So far, so good.
The Detroit Pistons kicked off preseason on a strong note Sunday night, blowing out the Milwaukee Bucks at home 120-87 after closing an early 18-point deficit. Jaden Ivey led the way with 22 points, making six of eight shot attempts and all three of his 3-pointers. Cade Cunningham (13 points), Malik Beasley (11 points) and Ron Holland (10 points, six rebounds, five assists) all reached double figures in scoring as well.
A rough start allowed the Bucks to open the game with a 20-3 run, during which they knocked down five of six attempts from 3. The lead later increased to 18 before the Pistons rallied, narrowing the deficit to 11 before outscoring Milwaukee 32-19 in the second quarter to take a two-point lead at the half. They kept rolling, outscoring the Bucks by 10 points in the third and 29-8 in the fourth.
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In total, the Pistons outscored the Bucks 117-67 after spotting them a 17-point lead. The Bucks were without Giannis Antetokounmpo, who got the night off. Damian Lillard scored 15 points in 17 minutes. Bobby Portis led Milwaukee with 16 points off of the bench.
It was a strong all-around defensive effort by the Pistons, holding Milwaukee to 34.5% overall and forcing 24 turnovers.
Tobias Harris (illness) and Bobi Klintman (right calf contusion) didn’t dress for the Pistons. Ausar Thompson, who has yet to be cleared by the NBA’s Fitness-To-Play panel after a March blood clot diagnosis, also missed the game.
J.B. Bickerstaff takes first stab at rotation
J.B. Bickerstaff has reiterated through training camp that the coaching staff will utilize all five preseason games to experiment with different lineup combinations. Thus, any starting five seen leading up to the regular season may not be indicative of what the unit will look like on opening night.
And yet there was only one wild card in the Pistons’ preseason opener — Tim Hardaway Jr. It otherwise was predictable, with Cunningham, Ivey, Simone Fontecchio and Jalen Duren getting the nods. Had Harris been healthy, he presumably would’ve been a starter as well.
Bickerstaff stuck with an eight-man rotation in the first half, with Beasley, Holland and Isaiah Stewart rounding it out. He went deeper into his bench in the second half, as Marcus Sasser, Paul Reed and Wendell Moore Jr. all made their debuts in the third.
Jaden Ivey dazzles in (preseason) debut
After securing an offensive rebound, Ivey showed no hesitation as he stepped into and launched a corner 3-pointer. A possession later, he slipped into the lane and got another bucket by tipping in his initial missed layup try.
It was his first, and only, missed shot of the first half. Milwaukee didn’t have an answer for Ivey, who led all scorers with 17 points through the first two periods. He did so on 5-for-6 shooting (including a trio of 3-pointers). He got to the free throw line three times within his first six minutes of play.
The third-year guard played with aggression and decisiveness, leaning into his speed and his confidence as a shooter. With 8.8 seconds left in the second quarter, Ivey beat Milwaukee’s entire defense down the floor and finished at the rim with 3.3 seconds to spare.
The Pistons struggled early, but Ivey kept the team within striking distance before they took their first lead shortly before halftime.
Ron Holland active on both ends of floor
Detroit turned up the defensive intensity in the second quarter, forcing eight Bucks turnovers in the period to turn an 18-point deficit into a two-point lead. Much of Detroit’s defensive effort was thanks to Holland, the fifth overall pick in this summer's draft.
Holland was everywhere in his unofficial NBA debut, logging four points, five rebounds and four assists in roughly 16 first-half minutes. He drew one of the loudest cheers of the night when he shut down Bucks point guard Delon Wright toward the end of the first half, forcing a steal and finishing the transition in layup.
That was after Holland drew a charge on Brook Lopez, which led to a series of Pistons plays that allowed them to take their first lead of the game late in the second quarter.
The rookie sparked a Pistons run after checking in, grabbing an offensive rebound that led to a Beasley 3 before nabbing the defensive rebound and finding Beasley again for another corner 3 to cut the deficit to 12. Holland’s energy was infectious, and Bickerstaff gave him the nod as a starter in the second half.
Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com . Follow him @omarisankofa .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons show comeback ability in 120-87 preseason win over Milwaukee Bucks
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