MIAMI — This felt different.
Let’s not get it twisted: A loss is a loss, and the Detroit Pistons opened their season falling a point short to the defending Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat 103-102.
But despite the result, it felt like the beginning of what fans have been waiting for: Seeing a rebuilding team that is young but not inept. Too often in the past few seasons, Detroit wore both hats. And based on some of those results, it at times felt as if the team did so proudly. On Wednesday, though, the Pistons looked capable. They shared the floor with the hottest team in the NBA from April to June and belonged.
An optimist would say Detroit beat itself. And an optimist might be correct. The Pistons had 14 first-half turnovers, which led to 21 Miami points. Many were unforced, a product of nerves and being too loose. Yet, they only went into halftime down 11.
A pessimist might say, “Same ol’ Pistons,” and they, too, might be correct. At a point, you have to stop beating yourself. The good teams don’t.
Detroit isn’t a good team yet. But as someone who has watched every second of this “restoration” since it started in 2020, this night, this game, this team, felt like the start of something worth getting behind. Maybe I’ll eat my words on Friday night in Charlotte, but I don’t think I will. This feels like the moment Pistons fans have been waiting for. Finally, Detroit is not a team that has the potential to be on the rise, but a team that looks primed to actually begin its ascension.
Remember Cade Cunningham? The No. 1 pick in 2021 who has played less than 82 regular-season games because of various injuries, the most recent being a shin injury that forced him to get surgery and miss 70 games last season? Well, he sent a reminder to the basketball world with a 30-point, nine-assist performance Wednesday. Oh, and he did that without attempting a free throw.
Remember all that talk about defense? Detroit held Miami to 103 points, which is equivalent to holding a team to 82 in 2004, and tallied 13 blocks. The Pistons’ half-court defense, for most of the night, was as sound as it has been over the last three years. There was a stretch in the fourth quarter that flirted with perfection. Miami only scored 45 points in the second half.
Remember all that talk about resiliency? The Pistons found themselves down by double digits a few times, yet they always found a way to keep the game within reach. The most impressive moment came early in the fourth quarter when the Heat went up by 19. Detroit responded by putting together an 18-3 run in about six minutes.
The Pistons told on themselves Wednesday. Cunningham showed he can be the best player on a court that features two All-Stars. Detroit proved it can defend at a high level, despite being young. The Pistons set the standard for the rest of the season.
“I’ve said it a couple of times that, when you guys show me that you can play that way, that’s what I expect every night,” Pistons coach Monty Williams said.
Of course, all of this is a bit hyperbolic. Even the Denver Nuggets don’t play to their standard every night. That’s life in the NBA. What isn’t hyperbolic is that this type of defensive performance from the Pistons should show up more than just here and there. It should be a regular occurrence. Why can’t it be? Because young teams don’t defend?
A young team did Wednesday night.
“I wouldn’t even say we told on ourselves,” Cunningham said. “We already knew it amongst each other, know what I mean? That’s the level that we need to play at, night in and night out, and take it up a notch. We can be a lot better than we were out there tonight.”
Not everything was perfect. The Pistons lost a game in which their opponent only scored 103 points. Guards not named Cunningham and Marcus Sasser, who scored eight points on 3-of-4 shooting in his NBA debut, couldn’t buy a bucket. Ausar Thompson looked like a rookie on the offensive end. Cunningham’s kick-out passes ended with shots that clanked off the rim, other than ones from Isaiah Stewart, who, too, was a monster, scoring 14 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and converting on 2 of 3 shots from beyond the arc. (Talk about resiliency, eh?)
Turnovers aside, with better spacing and a jumper or two from Killian Hayes, Jaden Ivey, Joe Harris or Alec Burks, and Detroit walks out victorious with Michigan native Floyd Mayweather in the front row at Kaseya Center. There are things Williams needs to fix between now and Detroit’s next game on Friday.
He’s already thinking about it.
“Offensively, I have to do some things better so that we recognize where we are making the turnovers; call plays better so that the spacing is a lot better,” Williams said. “But defensively, we’ve got to build on that. When we get stops and play in transition, we’re going to be pretty hard to stop.”
Again, Detroit isn’t a finished product. This isn’t a declaration that the Pistons are going to rise from the ashes and play postseason basketball. That would be foolish to say after one game, especially one they lost. This is just an admittance that something feels different. It feels worthwhile. Finally.
The vision of general manager Troy Weaver showed itself, quite possibly, as loud as it has: a big team filled with players who get after it, turn defense into easy offense and can be carried by a potential star. It took a while, but it might be here.
Loss aside, the Pistons walked the walk. They didn’t just talk about being a good defensive team; they proved it as soon as basketball mattered. They talked about how resilient they were, and overcoming several body punches from the defending Eastern Conference champs backs that up. Now, Detroit just has to get out of its own way. Stop being the reason a loss isn’t a win. That’s where youth comes into play, but that can’t be a crutch for much longer. The season is in its infancy. Kinks are still being worked out. Chemistry is still forming.
I’m not sure where the Pistons will end up when the regular season ends. I just know what I watched Wednesday looked and felt believable.
“It is different,” Stewart said.
We’ll see.
(Photo of Cade Cunningham and Tyler Herro: Jasen Vinlove / USA Today)
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