Pistons' JB Bickerstaff credits 'Detroit vs everybody' mentality in big win vs Rockets
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The Detroit Pistons kicked off their five-game road stretch with a 107-96 victory against the Houston Rockets.
After dropping the last two home games against the Indiana Pacers and the Phoenix Suns, the Pistons rebounded with a tough win against the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Detroit has played some of their best basketball away from home this season, with a road record of 12-10. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff elaborated to the media how the road environment has brought out this production for his team.
“Oddly enough, our guys kind of thrive on the road. Whatever those environments bring to them, I think it just highlights how connected this group is. And they like to play in adverse environments,” Bickerstaff explained. “They like to be put in a situation where it’s “Detroit Vs. Everybody”. When it seems to be that way, we seem to be at our best.”
Detroit had to battle through waves of momentum on the road against Houston. The first quarter favored the Pistons out of the gate with an eleven-point lead, but seven turnovers in the second quarter gave the Rockets an opportunity to tie the score by halftime. Detroit cleaned up their execution on both ends of the floor in the second half to seal their victory.
The Pistons are back over .500 for the regular season with a 22-21 record. They remain one of the hottest teams in 2025 going 8-3 through their eleven games in the month.
Another star performance by Cade Cunningham
Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham broke out of his slump with an impressive performance to carry his team. The Pacers and Suns limited Cunningham to 14-of-47 shooting from the field and 2-of-14 from three over the previous two games. That downswing changed against the Rockets by putting up 32 points on 12-of-22 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 shooing from three.
Cunningham’s All Star momentum remains high after his Monday performance. Detroit’s 6’7 point guard flirted with another triple double by grabbing nine rebounds and dishing seven assists. Cunningham accounted for ten of the team’s 22 turnovers, but was able to prevail despite the struggle. He made up for the turnover issues with an unstoppable 19-point third quarter against Houston’s defenders.
The Pistons received a lift before the game started by the leadership of their franchise point guard. Cunningham gathered the team prior to tipoff to focus on finishing with a win. Sixth man Malik Beasley spoke on what was said in the pregame huddle in his postgame media session.
“Cade brought us in with like 16 minutes to go before the game started. He said ‘if we lose tonight, we’re going to lose because we played hard and we just missed shots,” Beasley said. “We’re going to win, we’re going to play hard, and we’re not going to get outworked tonight,”
Beasley led the second unit in scoring with 17 points in 29 minutes. Center Jalen Duren had one of his most impressive performances of the season recording his 16th double-double. Duren scored 16 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and made a monster defensive impact with four steals, two blocks, and limiting Houston center Alperen Sengun to a quiet day. Forward Ausar Thompson was impactful against his twin brother Amen by scoring 11 points and grabbing nine rebounds of his own.
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