DETROIT, MI – The Detroit Pistons tipped off the NBA season with a tough 115-109 loss to the division rival Indiana Pacers.

In what was a hard fought game for the Pistons, they ultimately folded to the experience of the Pacers. Consistently they displayed the ability to hit big shots down the stretch and come up with big defensive stops. A hallmark of good teams, which Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff made sure to mention when assessing his the Pistons performance.

“They’re a good team with a ton of experience,” Bickerstaff said. “They’re also well coached.”

Jaden Ivey echoed the sentiments of his coach when talking about the 4th quarter let down.

“I thought it was as great start for us and our intensity was there, But there’s things we have to clean up,” Ivey said. “That’s a playoff team. They executed and we have to match their execution level.”

They had an answer for every Pacers run for most of the game, but couldn’t sustain the effort consistently enough. And it’s something the players not only know, but are hoping to correct sooner than later.

“We want to have that grit and it starts early on,” Jaden Ivey said. “But towards the end of game we have to make sure we’re locked in and still bringing that energy.”

“I thought the ball was moving well tonight. We missed some shots tonight that will go down.”

Pistons star Cade Cunningham was a catalyst seeking to get his teammates involved, and he finished the first half with 7 assists. But he absolutely took off in the third scoring 18 points on 8-9 shooting including a buzzer beating three to end the first half. Which sent the Little Caesars Arena crowd into an absolute frenzy!

”That’s who he is,” Bickerstaff said. “He’s one of the elite talents in our league.”

How it went down

The Pistons set out to space the floor around Cade Cunningham and one of those additions wasted no time making threes. Tim Hardaway, Jr, who received the start, knocked down 2 from behind the arc for the team’s first six points of the game.

And they secured a 12-7 lead behind the same energy, hustle and defense that excited fans during preseason. But the Pacers tightened up on offense and stiffened the defense in response, which was a signal of the tight game to follow.

Rookie Ron Holland who impressed many through preseason brought the same Detroit approved hustle and energy. As if the script writers were at work, his first NBA points came hustling for a rebound and scoring a put back layup.

Malik Beasley was a steadying hand the last 5 or 6 minutes of the 1st quarter.

The Pistons lead the Pacers 58-49 at halftime with veterans Tobias Harris and Beasley leading the scoring charge with 13 and 10 points respectively.

The third quarter belonged to Cade Cunningham. The Pistons star scored 18 points on 8 of 9 shooting, including a buzzer beating three. Even more impressive was how aggressively he attacked the rim and continued to keep pressure on the Pacers playing catchup.

The Pistons held the lead heading to the 4th quarter but after what looked like an and-1 layup by Tobias Harris was called an offensive foul. That gave the Pacers the ball and the lead with a little over 6 minutes left in the game.

And the Pistons couldn’t recover from the quick turn of fortunes, which shouldn’t blot out what did go right,

The energy felt different from the start as the new look Pistons fought for every rebound, dove on the ground and played like every possession mattered.

“We did a lot of good stuff from sharing the basketball to defending the way that we did,” Bickerstaff exclaimed. “I thought they competed their tails off.”

They weren’t perfect, but they were better in almost all the areas fans were hoping to see the team improve except they didn’t get the win.