Throughout the first 12 minutes of Tuesday’s NBA Cup matchup between the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks, it felt like the game was trending in a competitive direction. It was likely the biggest game for the Pistons organization since they last won more than 23 games and made the playoffs in 2019.
The Bucks were the cause of Detroit’s demise in four games during that 2019 first-round series, and the Bucks were the cause of Detroit’s demise again Tuesday. And to the surprise of no one, two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo led the charge on both occasions for Milwaukee.
While the Pistons trailed 36-31 heading into the second quarter, they still outscored the Bucks 20-6 in the paint. Then the game clock struck 4:20 in the second quarter and Milwaukee exploded for a 14-0 run.
That run eventually sent Detroit to halftime with a 19-point deficit. The Bucks proceeded to knock down a season-high 23 3-pointers on 56.1 percent shooting from distance en route to a 128-107 win, ending any hope the Pistons had of going to Vegas to compete for the NBA Cup. The loss dropped the Pistons to 9-14 on the season.
Despite the loss, Cade Cunningham expects the Pistons to keep improving and building.#DetroitBasketball pic.twitter.com/SPTJPCSIPT
— FanDuel Sports Network Detroit (@FanDuelSN_DET) December 4, 2024
Despite the loss, Detroit walked away from the NBA Cup feeling it gained valuable minutes that could prepare it for when the stakes are higher — say during the Play-In or playoffs. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff and his players were forthcoming at shootaround and during pregame availability about this being the most important NBA game of many of their young careers.
Considering the Pistons are trying to capitalize on the bottom half of an Eastern Conference that’s generally in flux, they need as many games with more weight than the average regular-season game as they can get. While the Bucks as currently constructed have yet to win the NBA Finals, they still have veterans Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis who were on the championship team in 2021.
The association offers few better chances in December to play meaningful basketball against a team just a few years removed from hoisting the Larry O’Brien.
“This was a great opportunity to experience for our guys,” Bickerstaff said during his postgame news conference. “The message to our guys is — for a lot of us in the NBA — this was the biggest game that we’ve had, playing against a team that has champions on it, guys who have been through the fire before and understand what it takes to reach that next level. The NBA doesn’t let you skip steps.
“All those guys in that locker room who won championships or had playoff success at some point in time as a team didn’t reach their goals either. They learned from it — got better from it — and that’s what we have to do. We’ve got to learn from it, see what it felt like. You don’t know what it feels like until you go through it.”
And Detroit began going through it starting with the aforementioned second quarter.
Milwaukee was scorching from behind the arc all evening and never let up. Aside from the already impressive percentage from long range, the Bucks also shot 56.3 percent from the field. The Pistons were outmanned in the scoring department and couldn’t keep up with the Bucks, which had six of its players score in double figures.
As he does most nights, Cade Cunningham led Detroit with a team-high 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting and 3-of-6 from distance, six assists and five rebounds. Tobias Harris was the next-highest scorer for the Pistons, finishing with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
As a unit, Detroit shot 46 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from 3.
Tuesday’s result left more to be desired for the Pistons. Going 3-1 in NBA Cup play and having their Vegas dreams crushed before their fans at Little Caesars Arena was not the plan. These games and the opportunities they presented did, however, provide Detroit with something to strive for moving forward.
“We’re definitely happy with the fact that we put ourselves in this position,” Cunningham said after the game. “(Tonight) was the first meaningful basketball game that I’ve played in my career — a lot of us have played in our careers … To be able to do that was huge for us. Now we’re off to trying to be in the playoffs and feel that again.”
Cunningham’s backcourt mate, Jaden Ivey, had a tough outing Tuesday but shares the same optimism as Cunningham. Ivey mustered 8 points on 3-of-10 shooting, with five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
“Biggest game of my career,” Ivey said as he sat at his locker. “Obviously we didn’t come out victorious but we’re searching and trying to build for something greater. That’s playoffs, what we talked about. We want to be there. So, now we’ve got to work toward that goal and keep striving every day.”
Over the entire four-game span of Cup games, Cunningham averaged 20.8 points, shooting 43.7 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from 3-point land, with nine assists and six rebounds. Ivey’s Cup stats took a bit of a dip compared to his regular-season stats thus far. The 22-year-old guard averaged 16 points, shooting 42.6 percent and 28.6 percent from deep, with 5.8 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals through four games.
Ivey, Cunningham, Bickerstaff and the rest of the Pistons will need to mentally turn the page quickly enough to prepare for the Celtics on Wednesday. Boston boasts the league’s second-best record at 17-4. Detroit enters its upcoming matchup going 4-6 through its last 10 games, including three Cup games.
“Being able to go through that,” Bickerstaff said. “Now we know what it feels like. The next time we’re presented with that situation we expect to be improved.”
(Top photo of Cade Cunningham: Lon Horwedel / Imagn Images)
