Detroit Pistons head coach J. B. Bickerstaff delivered a blunt assessment after his team surrendered a large lead in a 107-105 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena.
Detroit led by as many as 23 points before Brooklyn closed the game with an 18-6 run, ending the Nets’ 10-game losing streak.
Bickerstaff pointed directly to his team’s approach after building the advantage.
“I mean, our level of respect for the game, period,” Bickerstaff said when asked about Brooklyn scoring 34 points in the fourth quarter.
“The second half, we built a 20-point lead and then we stopped respecting the game,” the Pistons coach added. “You disrespect the game you know it’s going to bite you in the ass. And that’s what happened to us tonight.”
Detroit entered the night with the NBA’s best record at 45-16 but dropped its third straight game.
The Pistons played without Cade Cunningham (quadriceps) and Ausar Thompson (ankle), forcing Bickerstaff to adjust his starting lineup.
“I mean, again, you’re missing Cade and Ausar just trying to make sure we had enough ball handling playmaking in that first group,” Bickerstaff explained.
He turned to a backcourt combination of Daniss Jenkins and Marcus Sasser to handle the ball and pressure defensively.
“With both of those guys ability to bring it, handle it, create for themselves, create for others,” Bickerstaff said. “Their ability to pick up defensively, pick up full court, put pressure on people. So that was the idea behind it.”
Detroit’s offense flowed early as the team shot 51.1 percent in the first half and forced 12 turnovers.
However, the Pistons’ offensive movement slowed late in the game.
“We just stopped moving. I mean, it’s that simple,” Bickerstaff said. “We’re not a team that should play a ton of isolation basketball.”
The Detroit coach emphasized that the team’s success this season has come from ball movement and paint pressure.
“To our strength is when we move people around,” he said. “We were getting to the paint we were spraying. We were creating open looks for one another.”
As the lead grew, Bickerstaff believes the Pistons abandoned that approach.
“You build a 20 point lead and you continue to do what you’ve done,” he said. “You don’t change the way you play because you have a lead now.”
“And I think that’s what happened to us tonight.”
The Nets capitalized behind 30 points and 13 rebounds from Michael Porter Jr. and 23 points from Ziaire Williams, who hit two crucial three-pointers in the final minutes.
Brooklyn’s surge included a decisive fourth quarter where Detroit struggled to maintain defensive intensity.
“That right there,” Bickerstaff said about his message to the team afterward. “No matter what the night is, you got to continue to do the things that make us successful.”
“We have to play to our identity every single night.”
The Pistons allowed 27 points in the third quarter and 34 in the fourth after leading comfortably earlier in the game.
“That’s not playing to our identity,” Bickerstaff said. “That’s not something you turn on and turn off. That’s what you have to do consistently.”
Bickerstaff closed by emphasizing execution as the central issue.
“Was there anything that they did schematically?” he was asked.
“No,” Bickerstaff said. “It was execution. Yeah. We have to be better.”
