DETROIT — Generally, when NBA teams play back-to-back games, they’ll fly directly to the next city they’re playing in after they finish their first game. Arrival times are usually early mornings, but not quite a few hours from sunrise, either. That wasn’t the Pistons’ reality when they were in transit back to Detroit from Indianapolis on Saturday morning.
Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said postgame that his team was “exhausted” due to travel delays and the fact that they played an NBA Cup game the night before. Since its inception just a year ago, NBA Cup games have bred a different sense of urgency from players. Especially considering each of them on the winning team earned $500,000 last season.
Couple the energy his team expended with his unit not reaching their beds until roughly 5 a.m. ET, and for Bickerstaff, it was a recipe for the lackluster performance that ensued later Saturday. To make matters worse, Detroit (9-13) has played 22 games, which is more than any other team in the association.
“I mean, our guys were exhausted,” Bickerstaff said after his team lost 111-96 to the Philadelphia 76ers. “We sat on the runway last night until 2:30 (a.m.), 3 o’clock in the morning. Got home at 4 o’clock in the morning in the snowstorm. They drove home, by the time they got to bed it was 5 a.m, 5:30 a.m. I thought they went out and they dug down.
“They tried to give it what they had. We just didn’t have it tonight, and that’s fair. They tried but today was just a rough day for them.”
Ausar flew for this block pic.twitter.com/bPKFY2GSpR
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) December 1, 2024
From the opening tip, the Pistons lacked the energy necessary to make their loss a competitive game. It was evident when Detroit allowed Philadelphia to begin the game on a 22-7 run. While coach Bickerstaff spoke postgame, he was sure to urge the NBA to reconsider having teams play back-to-back games when the front end is an NBA Cup game, due to the intense nature of those matchups.
Bickerstaff likely has a valid point regarding the atmosphere those games provide and the heightened energy and focus it requires from players, but the Pistons are 1-4 on the second night of back-to-backs thus far this season — whether they were NBA Cup cup or regular-season game. If Detroit is to take the proverbial next step, it will need to remedy its ways when it comes to back-to-back games.
The Pistons still have 10 back-to-backs remaining on their schedule.
“I’ll scream it to the rooftops, and I hope people will pay attention and they’ll listen,” Bickerstaff said. “I think the league has done a wonderful thing by adding the Cup series. Obviously, as time goes on, there will be adjustments that are made to it, but you should not play a back-to-back after one of those games. The guys are competing their tails off to go out and win at a high level, and it’s just extremely difficult to come back the next night and have to play a back-to-back to follow it up.
“So again, hopefully, it’s something that they’ll look at. I’m not a scheduling expert by any means. I just think it’s extremely difficult for guys to go out and compete at that intensity that we’re asking them to, because it means so much, and then to come back and fly and play the next night. I just think it’s really difficult.”
Paul George fouls Ausar Thompson in the first half at Little Caesars Arena. (Rick Osentoski / Imagn Images)
Adding to that difficulty was Cade Cunningham being a late scratch after otherwise being listed as healthy and coming off of a double-double in his return from a three-game absence. Malik Beasley continued his consistency from downtown to lead the Pistons in scoring with 19 points, six rebounds and four assists on 6-for-9 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
Beasley now ranks third in the NBA in made 3s thus far, with 79, trailing only All-Stars Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball.
Jaden Ivey added 15 points and five assists but on 5-of-16 shooting. Guard Wendell Moore Jr., who scored 11 points in 16 minutes, was just a minus-one despite Detroit losing by 15 points. While Bickerstaff gave his team grace for their performance, Moore held himself and his teammates accountable.
“We started off slow but at the end of the day we are the ones out there on the floor,” Moore said at his postgame news conference. “At the end of the day, we have to show up and play basketball. Philadelphia came out and played a good game. They hit a lot of shots early. I think we did a good job fighting to get out of the hole. We have some moral victories we can take from this game.
“We could have come out and laid down, but I feel like the whole team put up a good fight.”
Moore and the rest of the Pistons will have Sunday off before likely practicing Monday and hosting the Milwaukee Bucks for another NBA Cup game that will be a battle of the undefeated teams in Group B.
(Top photo of Tyrese Maxey being defended by Jaden Ivey: Rick Osentoski / Imagn Images)
