While their first playoff appearance since 2019 is set in stone, the Detroit Pistons visit Milwaukee on Sunday looking to get one back on the Bucks to wrap up the regular season.
Despite losing to Milwaukee 125-119 on Friday, Detroit (44-37) will be seeded sixth in the Eastern Conference for the postseason where it will match up with the New York Knicks.
That’s some kind of meteoric turnaround for the Pistons, who were the worst team in the NBA in each of the previous two seasons.
Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff only is in his first year at the helm but has noticed the vast difference in the mood from the fans around the Motor City — notably from the time of his first engagement with the side last October to now.
“From being booed with 8:40 to go in our very first preseason game against this team (Milwaukee) to where it is right now, it just shows the love, the support and the passion from this fanbase,” he said.
“I think it’s a mutual respect. I feel like walking around town, you hear people talking about just how gritty and tough his team is, and how much fun they are to watch. Our guys feel the same way about our fans.”
Now that the Pistons’ postseason status is locked in, Bickerstaff feels he can begin planning for the road ahead with clarity.
“It helps you prepare,” he said. “Obviously when you’re locked into your seeding, now you know where your focus can lie. All our advanced stuff, all our preparation, gives us an opportunity to start digging into it now, instead of coming down to the last (game of the) season when there are so many options and you have to do so many different things. It will be helpful for that.”
Star guard Cade Cunningham, who scored 36 points against the Bucks, feels the Pistons can use Sunday’s game as a dress rehearsal for their first-round series against third-seeded New York.
“It’s great,” Cunningham said. “They (the Bucks) have guys that have been there before, they’ve got champions on that team. To be able to go up against them right now and prepare for the playoffs is great for us.”
The most vexing, immediate riddle for Detroit to try to solve is Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Bucks superstar racked up 32 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds for his 11th triple-double of the season.
When asked how to stop the great Antetokounmpo, Bickerstaff responded with a long pause and a blank stare, before finally offering: “Next question, please.”
Behind Antetokounmpo’s brilliance, Milwaukee (47-34) has won seven straight and locked in the No. 5 seed in the East, setting up a first-round series with the Indiana Pacers.
“We’re playing terrific basketball,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “We’re playing together. Giannis is trusting all his teammates. Him and ‘Scoot’ (Kevin Porter Jr.) are starting to really have some chemistry together. We’re doing a lot of things (well).”
The Bucks have won 24 of the past 25 meetings against the Pistons, including each of the past 12.
–Field Level Media
