For Detroit Pistons fans, it’s been a rough few years. I don’t have to go through all the grueling details for you to know they’ve had the worst record (or at least the bottom three) in each of the past four seasons. They endured a 28-game losing streak last year, tying the NBA record for most consecutive losses. Over that span, Detroit has reached .500 just thrice, each time very early into the season.
While the 2024-2025 season is young, the Pistons had a chance to reach .500 Monday night against the Chicago Bulls and failed. It would have been their best record at this point in the season during the Cade Cunningham era. That loss, however, isn’t the be all, end all. The Pistons are still playing their best basketball in years.
Hired this summer to replace Monty Williams, head coach JB Bickerstaff has been pushing the right buttons. Detroit’s personnel, built with an adequate supply of shooting and creation, has been a breath of fresh air for Cunningham and his backcourt partner, Jaden Ivey.
They’ve each had to operate in a closet of space in years past. Both are enjoying the most efficient seasons of their careers thus far. Although there is plenty more room to grow and develop, the arrow is finally pointing up for this young core.
That said, it’s not the offense providing Detroit with this base level of competence. Through one month of basketball, the Pistons boast the league’s 10th-best defense, allowing just over 111 points per 100 possessions. This is a somewhat miraculous turn. Since Cunningham was drafted in 2021, this team hasn’t had one season when it wasn’t a bottom-five defense. And now the Pistons’ defense is propelling them to playing average, nay good, basketball.
So, what’s changed?
Buy-In From Cunningham And Ivey
Nothing can be done without your top-two players believing in a team’s identity. Cunningham and Ivey not only commandeer the offense, but are also the first line of defense on the other end. They have to set the tone. If they’re allowing blow-bys, not rotating over in help situations or not fighting through screens, it creates a trickledown effect that impacts the rest of their defense.
They’re not perfect. And again, there is lots of work to be done, but it’s the first time in their careers that either player has had a positive Defensive Box Plus-Minus. While Ivey has more to clean up than Cunningham, he’s been competing more on that end and buying into the Pistons system.
But Cunningham, notably, has stepped it up a notch. Most nights, he’s guarding opposing teams’ best players, and he’s done a great job of using his length and strength to defend a wide variety of players.
FG% when guarded by Cade Cunningham:
0% = LeBron James
0% = Jaylen Brown
33% = Jayson Tatum
0% = Jalen Brunson
0% = LaMelo Ball
0% = Tyrese Haliburton
33% = Donovan Mitchell
33% = Darius GarlandTotal = 11% FG (4/35)
On-ball defense has been elite so far. pic.twitter.com/LIj3yzvwNp
— Pistons Jack (@pistons_jack) November 8, 2024
Off the ball, Cunningham has already made a few highlight plays as a weakside helper, including a game-saving rejection versus the Atlanta Hawks. His hand-eye coordination and timing have been impressive in these moments, and his future potential as a two-way star is clear.
Cade Cunningham wins it for the Pistons with the game-saving block! pic.twitter.com/yFphKAD5X7
— .Mike (@ToTheBasketPod) November 9, 2024
A Different Approach Defensively
Bickerstaff has morphed the Pistons schematically, altering which shots he’s willing for Detroit to concede.
The Pistons are allowing teams to take more threes than last season, but they’ve changed where they’re allowing them from — limiting corner threes and forcing opponents to shoot above the break. They’re also using their perimeter defenders to pinch in on drives, swarm the ball and wall off the paint. Detroit is surrendering the 10th-fewest shots in the restricted area, while allowing the seventh-most midrange shots, according to Cleaning the Glass.
For a team lacking a natural shot-blocker, it’s a sound recipe to have; although, Isaiah Stewart has been good, and Jalen Duren has his moments, but they’re too few and far between. Perhaps more than that, it seems sustainable because this is the shot diet most good-to-great defenses promote. The Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors have similar defensive shot profiles. They’re both clubs that like to scramble defensively and try to limit teams’ opportunities inside the paint.
Still, that can be troublesome for certain matchups. The Pistons were lit up by the Bulls because Nikola Vucevic dropped 29 points and six threes, with every single long ball coming above the break. It’s an imperfect formula, and there needs to be more fluidity in the scheme. But for a group that’s previously been atrocious on that end, this is a major step up.
Ending Possessions
More important than anything, Detroit is properly closing out defensive possessions. The Pistons are the league’s fifth-best rebounding team, ranking sixth in defensive rebounding percentage and ninth in offensive rebounds. That prowess limits opponents’ second-chance opportunities (10th-best in the league) and helps fuel their offense by gaming the possession battle — ranking eighth in the league in total possessions.
The motto has been: play aggressive defense, don’t let teams into the paint and platoon rebound to limit second-chance opportunities. It’s worked.
Does it have flaws? Absolutely.
Can it thrive every night? No, Monday’s loss to the Bulls showed us that. But it is giving a once-historically bad defensive team a baseline to stay competitive. Nine of the Pistons’ 16 contests this season have been clutch games (within five points during the final five minutes) — the fifth-most in the league, per NBA.com. They’ve won four of them.
Cunningham, Bickerstaff, Ivey and Co. have found a formula that works with a standard to aspire toward nightly. It’s a standard these 7-9, No. 6 seed Pistons are meeting more often than not as they aim to stay in the thick of the Eastern Conference’s postseason race.
