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- J.B. Bickerstaff and the Detroit Pistons beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night despite the absence of Cade Cunningham and Tobias Harris.
- It’s the latest surprising turnaround for the Pistons, who have tripled their win total from a year ago.
The Detroit Pistons were undermanned, and the Cleveland Cavaliers — the top team in the Eastern Conference — had brought their superstar trio to Little Caesars Arena.
But the game didn’t reflect the teams’ makeups. Without Cade Cunningham or Tobias Harris, the Pistons picked up an upset win that marked several milestones for the most improved team in the league.
The Pistons (42-32) have clinched a winning record for the first time since the 2015-16 season. They’ve tripled last year’s win total (14), becoming the first team in NBA history to do so in an 82-game season. And they also snapped a 12-game losing streak against a Cavaliers team, led by Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, that had already defeated them three times this season.
A lot of Pistons deserve credit for the win. Perhaps none more so, though, than the man in the lead chair — J.B. Bickerstaff. Without his franchise player and top veteran, he coached the Pistons to a 133-122 win in which they won nearly every category. They shot better overall, from the 3-point line and at the free throw line, won the offensive glass and led for 37 minutes, stretching their edge to as many as 21 points.
It was a signature win — that just happened to be against the team that fired him last summer.
And it just happened to boost the odds of an unlikely Coach of the Year upset. Bickerstaff and Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson have the highest odds to win the award; Atkinson is the favorite, but Bickerstaff adds to his case with each win.
“The way we play is his brand of basketball, and his attitude,” said Tim Hardaway Jr., who led the Pistons with 32 points. “He’s done an amazing job of giving guys that confidence, giving guys that ability to go out there and compete on both ends of the floor, no matter if you make a mistake here or there or multiple mistakes in a row. As long as you’re competing and moving on to the next play, that’s all he cares about.
“When you have a coach like that and a coach that also communicates to each one of his players like he does, goes up to each one of them after practice, before practice, just to ask you how your day is going, that goes a long way. We want to go to war for him and I feel like that’s what makes him coach of the year.”
Players have sung Bickerstaff’s praises all season. The Pistons needed a culture reset coming off of the worst season in franchise history. Bickerstaff and newly hired president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon represented a clean slate. Bickerstaff then set the tone for the season early.
The Pistons have been the league’s top defense since Jan. 1. That reflects the coaching staff (though they’ve certainly been lifted by a career season from Isaiah Stewart, as well as Ausar Thompson’s return).
The entire team has bought in. They force turnovers and capitalize in transition, deny shots at the rim and harass opposing ball-handlers.
On Friday, they held the Cavaliers to 35% shooting in the third quarter to open a 21-point lead late in the period.
“It’s just a grit,” Bickerstaff said after the game. “It’s a willingness to do whatever it takes to win a game and win it together. I love how balanced it was. I love how everybody contributed, everybody played a part and everybody was involved in the fight. To me, that’s the fun part about competition is, we’re able to watch guys who are committed to one another and it’s just pure. There’s no (expletive) involved in it. It’s just guys out there on the floor trying to get it done and trying to get it done together.”
Seven Pistons scored in double figures to help overcome the absence of an All-Star in Cunningham, who missed his third straight game with a left calf contusion, and Harris, who was a late scratch with right Achilles tendonitis.
Malik Beasley, who replaced Harris in the starting lineup, scored 19 points. Thompson had one of his best performances of the season with 18 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and two steals.
Dennis Schröder (17 points, 10 assists), Jalen Duren (16 points, 13 assists), Stewart (14 points) and Ron Holland II (10 points, 2-for-3 from 3) also reached double figures.
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Without Cunningham this week, the Pistons have gone 3-0 — all at home. They’re currently the Eastern Conference’s fifth seed, 1½ games ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks and 1½ games behind the Indiana Pacers. The Pistons, by any measurement, have been one of the league’s most impressive turnaround stories in recent memory.
They will be well-represented during awards season, approaching fast with only eight games remaining. A Pistons coach last won Coach of the Year in 2001-02, when Rick Carlisle took it home in his first season with the franchise after winning 50 games. Only one other coach in franchise history has accomplished the honor: Ray Scott, in 1973-74 after a 52-win season.
“You hope to find a group of guys that understand what team is and guys that are willing to sacrifice themselves to be a part of the team,” Bickerstaff said Friday. “From the beginning of our time here until now, that’s all these guys have done. They’ve given me an opportunity to coach them, they tried to execute all of the things we’ve asked them to do without any pushback, without any fight.
“My job revolves around them and the fun that I get is because of them — watching them get better, watching them compete. To me it’s all about these guys and that’s where I find my joy.”
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