"Journey" to the West marked by nostalgia for the Pistons

The Pistons are almost halfway through their year-end trip to the West after taking two of five games with two wins against the Blazers and Kings. A trip to the other side of the United States that must bring back fond memories for the folks at JB Bickerstaff, because almost a year ago, the Pistons also took a “trip” out West.

This trip was crowned with success as Detroit lost only one of four games on the “West Coast”. Teammates from Cade Cunningham have stood out in particular with a series of three consecutive victories against the Suns, Lakers and especially against the Kings where Poor Ivey crucified the Californians with 3+1 in the last moments. A decisive shot that sounded deadly for Mike Brown in Sacramento since coaching was immediately fired.

For JB Bickerstaff, this late 2024 trip marked a turning point for his Pistons: “They understood how to win and they believed in their ability to win. When you’re a young team, that’s the hardest thing to learn and the hardest thing to overcome.”

Cade Cunningham confirms that this success against the Kings allowed the players to realize that they can win any matchup. Quite a change in mentality for a Michigan franchise that had a terrible 28-game losing streak to start the 2023-24 season.

Enjoy without excitement

“I remember when we were trying to build our identity,” remembers Isaiah Stewart, present in Detroit since the 2020-21 campaign. “I was still young and didn’t see that far. I didn’t know things would turn out like this. Being on the other side is a great feeling.”

Today is better in Detroit. The Pistons are off to the second best start in their history with 24 wins and six losses and first place in the East. If they do not hide their desire for the title, Jay Bickerstaff’s players know that there is still a long way to go and they prefer not to get excited.

“We have a close team with good chemistry and good coaches,” Jalen Duren confirmed. “So we’re destined to succeed, but it’s still early. We’re not even into the new year. We still have a long way to go, but I’m excited for what the future holds.”

			Shots			Rebounds
Players	MJ	Min	Shots	3pts	LF	Off	Def	That	Pd	Bp	Int	Ct	Ft	Pts
Cade Cunningham	27	35:53	45.9	32.1	82.5	1.3	5.1	6.4	9.4	3.9	1.6	0.7	3.4	26.4
Jalen Duren	27	28:58	63.2	0	72.4	4.4	6.7	11.1	1.8	2.2	0.9	1.0	3.3	18.5
Tobias Harris	20	28:51	45.1	34.1	83.1	1.1	3.8	4.9	2.6	1.0	0.6	0.3	2.2	14.0
Ausar Thompson	26	27:00	51.6	31.3	55.2	2.2	3.8	6.0	2.8	1.5	1.5	0.7	2.7	12.1
Duncan Robinson	28	30:13	42.6	38.9	77.8	0.3	2.5	2.8	2.0	0.6	0.9	0.3	2.6	12.0
Isaiah Stewart	27	22:44	52.8	38.2	73.3	2.0	4.0	6.0	1.2	1.2	0.2	1.9	3.0	10.2
Caris Levert	24	20:28	43.0	38.0	65.3	0.3	1.5	1.8	2.9	1.3	0.8	0.6	1.3	8.5
Three Smiths	2	11:00	75.0	0	71.4	2.0	3.5	5.5	1.0	0.5	0.5	0.5	1.0	8.5
Ronald Holland II	28	21:00	40.5	25.0	80.4	0.9	2.8	3.8	1.5	1.3	1.5	0.2	2.3	8.4
Poor Ivey	15	15:00	46.3	35.6	88.9	0.5	1.7	2.2	1.6	0.9	0.7	0.3	1.8	8.0
Daniss Jenkins	24	16:25	43.3	34.5	77.1	0.7	1.2	1.9	3.0	1.3	0.8	0.0	1.4	7.6
Javonte Green	30	18:26	42.0	32.5	77.1	0.8	2.0	2.7	0.8	0.7	1.3	0.3	1.5	6.5
Paul Reed	22	10:35	64.7	46.2	60.0	1.8	2.2	4.0	1.0	1.0	0.7	0.6	1.4	5.8
Chaz Lanier	13	10:14	33.3	32.4	100.0	0.5	0.6	1.1	0.8	0.1	0.3	0.0	0.2	3.3
Bobby Clinton	6	8:50	33.3	27.3	0.0	0.8	1.8	2.7	0.7	0.8	0.3	0.0	1.5	2.8
Isaac Jones	1	1:00 am	50.0	0.0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0
Colby Jones	1	7:00 a.m	33.3	0.0	0	0.0	4.0	4.0	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	2.0
Wendell Moore Jr	3	14:20	50.0	0.0	0	0.3	1.0	1.3	1.0	0.3	0.7	0.3	0.3	2.0
Marcus Sasser	4	4:45	50.0	33.3	0	0.0	0.8	0.8	1.8	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.8	1.8