The Detroit Pistons finished the unofficial first half of the season exactly how they wanted to. A 128-110 win over the Chicago Bulls, three games above .500 for the first time this season, and with real momentum as the lineup continues to gel.
The game wasn’t as easy for Detroit as the 40-point win against the same Bulls the night before, but they were able to keep a consistent double-digit lead throughout the final quarter.
Detroit was led by Cade Cunningham’s 29 points, which included several nifty drives to the basket and visits to the free-throw line, which have become a wonderfully regular occurrence for Cunningham. He finished the night 9-of-19 overall, but was 7-of-12 inside the arc and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Among several solid performances from the Pistons’ core rotation, the most impactful was from Ausar Thompson, who continues to emerge this season.
It feels like Ausar finally feels comfortable after an extended absence to start the year because of a blood clot issue, and the new coaching staff is understanding how to utilize him.
Thompson is working as a secondary ball-handler who can push the ball up the floor, a dynamic cutter, a guy who can finish through traffic, and find success in the dunker’s spot.
Thompson finished with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, got to the charity stripe seven times (only making three), and had seven assists, and five rebounds.
The Pistons didn’t look past the Bulls even as they had to fight for the full 48 minutes. They were active defensively and were passing the ball all night. The team ended the night with 30 assists. None was prettier than this late-game dime from Ausar Thompson where he redirected an alley-oop pass from Cunningham to a trailing Jalen Duren for a monster slam:
As they unfurl more elements to his game, it makes Detroit’s offense so much more dangerous in both the open floor and the half court.
Thompson’s emergence also means there is less pressure on Detroit’s pair of veteran perimeter shooters. It’s much easier for Detroit to win when Tim Hardaway Jr. has an off night like tonight than it was earlier this season. Hardaway finished with just five points on eight shots. Malik Beasley scored 14, but Chicago designed a large part of their defensive game plan around denying Beasley easy access to the ball and it paid off through several stretches of the game.
After getting embarrassed last game, Chicago was focused on pushing the ball up the floor to not let Detroit get its defense set, and in hitting open shots.
The latter doesn’t come easy for a Chicago team as undermanned as it finds itself. Tonight, they were just 9-of-41 from deep. But they did find success in pushing the tempo and running to the rim. The Bulls were led by Ayo Dosunmu with 23 points.
The Pistons now get an extended rest during the All-Star break. Most of them, anyway. Cunningham will be making the first of what we hope is many All-Star appearances, and Ausar Thompson will play in the Rising Stars game with a chance to take his team into the All-Star game tournament on Sunday. We will also see Cunningham compete in the 3-point contest.
Then it’s back to basketball and the playoff push.