DETROIT, MI – The Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets faced off in the first of two sports battles between the cities. The Detroit Lions and Houston Texans kick off a primetime affair as the Sunday Night Football game of the week featuring two of the NFL’s best.

The Pistons entered the game with a 4-6 record which many fans would accept given the strength of schedule to start. But instead they’ve seen more in a team they believe should have at least a .500 right now.

There was a different buzz throughout training camp with JB Bickerstaff at the helm and preseason showcasing a renewed focus on team defense.

And it’s more than the eye test which bares the proof, they have a team defensive rating of 112.3 this season. That’s a 6.5 point improvement over the rating of 118.8 last season.

They’ve played a more physical and scrappy brand of basketball which has had them in position to win almost all of their games except one. We shall not speak of the drubbing at the hands of the New York Knicks.

But the Rockets in town provided another test versus a quality opponent for a Pistons team seeking to prove themselves with wins. They want to be more than a team trending in the right direction and instead believe they should be even higher in the standings.

First Half

Plans got off to a good start in the first half as the Pistons lead the Rockets 45-43 behind a good defensive effort and Cade Cunningham.

Cunningham is the first Pistons player to have a triple double in three straight games since Grant Hill. And he was a force with 14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists at the intermission.

The team held the Rockets to under 20% shooting from behind the arc but failed several times to secure the rebound. That contributed greatly to the Pistons seemingly one step behind the Rockets, even while leading.

No other Pistons player reached double figures in the half but as a team knocked down 5 threes in the second quarter compared to one in the first.

Second Half

Everything that went right defensively in the first half crawled to nearly a stop in the third quarter.

Rockets big man Alperen Sengun scored 8 of his 27 points in the third, and pulled down 4 rebounds. Sengun took what the defense gave him on offense but took no plays off in the paint battling for rebounds.

The Rockets hustled for loose balls, rebounds and hounded the Pistons full court to win the third quarter 29-19.

“I thought our guys fought,” head coach JB Bickerstaff said. “But their guys beat us to lose balls.”

“They made a couple more plays than we did tonight.”

It was a physical effort with pestilential Dillon Brooks the hated opponent you’d love on your team. He had a big rebound and bunch in the games final 2 minutes that appeared to put the Pistons away.

But they’ve proven to be a resilient bunch this season making good on the preseason promise to compete nightly. Fans have heard that rhetoric in the past, but this Pistons team has already proven it especially with the last 3 games decided by 3 points or less.

A Chance

And this one would be no different. The Pistons had several opportunities to pull out a victory but the experience of the Rockets would win out in the end.

The Pistons had an opportunity to tie the game with 1 second left trailing 101-99. But Tobias Harris missed the first of two free throws, and then missed the second in an attempt to retrieve the rebound.

They wouldn’t have been in the position to tie it up if not for a big three moments before from Harris. Despite the unfortunate luck at the free throw line, the team is still very confident in the veteran.

“We believe in Tobias to go to the line and knock his free throws down,” Bickerstaff said. “He just missed them tonight.”

Bickerstaff didn’t seem concerned at all with Harris as he gave a vote of confident for the usually steady handed free throw shooter.

Overall the Pistons look and are playing like a better team than last year, but the players and fans alike believe the team is built for more.

GAME NOTE:

Cade Cunningham became the fastest in Detroit Pistons history to score 3000 points (149 games).

 

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Photo Credit: Brandon Dent – Woodward Sports Network