The Detroit Pistons dropped Game 4 of their regular-season series against the Orlando Magic 107-123 on April 6 night at the Kia Center, falling to 2-2 in the season series. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff did not sugarcoat what went wrong, pointing directly to mental lapses and defensive breakdowns as the driving force behind the defeat.
Bickerstaff was blunt in his post-game presser, placing blame on Detroit’s inability to execute their system for three straight quarters.
“Too many mental lapses, breakdowns, things that we typically don’t do — we were allowing to happen on both ends of the floor,” he said. He then zeroed in on late-game execution as an equally critical failure: “We had some lapses down the stretch, some turnovers, things like that that ended up helping them extend their lead.”
How Detroit Fell Apart in the First Three Quarters
GettyJ.B. Bickerstaff speaks on loss to Magic.
The Pistons’ problems began immediately. Detroit fell into a 0-14 hole in the first quarter’s opening minutes, as Paolo Banchero exploited soft defense while Daniss Jenkins and Marcus Sasser gave the ball away on bad passes.
By halftime, Detroit trailed 55-69, having been outscored 39-27 in the second quarter alone. The third quarter was more of the same, Orlando extended their lead to 76-98, with Jalen Suggs and Desmond Bane repeatedly finding cracks in Detroit’s defense. The Pistons finished with 19 total turnovers, gifting Orlando easy buckets throughout all three quarters.
The Pistons did flash their true self in the fourth quarter, outscoring Orlando 31-25 in a stretch that included a massive 36-14 run. But Bickerstaff couldn’t hide the frustration:
“That’s again who we are when we’re at our best — we’re defending at a high level. And for whatever reason through the first three quarters we struggled with that.” He added, “It would have been better obviously to close it out.”
Detroit Player Performance Breakdown Reveals Costly Individual Struggles
Paolo Banchero was phenomenal with 31 points, 10-of-16 shooting, and a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line, finishing with a +23. Jalen Suggs, with 12 assists, was also +30.
Paolo Banchero was phenomenal with 31 points, 10-of-16 shooting, and a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line, finishing with a +23. Jalen Suggs, with 12 assists, was also +30.
Jalen Duren led Detroit with 18 points and 9 rebounds, but made 4 turnovers, -18. Daniss Jenkins added 18 points and 7 assists while he had a terrible five turnovers, also ending -18. Javonte Green was the only one who gave positive energy from the bench with 17 pts at +5.
Bickerstaff Addresses Cade Cunningham’s Collapsed Lung Injury
With the playoffs looming, the absence of Cade Cunningham shadowed the entire game. Bickerstaff made his feelings clear before tip-off,
“There’s no way to replicate what a game is other than playing the game… especially ramping up to the intensity of playoff basketball, it would be beneficial for the guys, and the group,” per Omari Sankofa of the Detroit Free Press.
Cunningham, who was averaging 24.5 points and 9.9 assists before suffering a collapsed lung on March 17, was upgraded on the injury report ahead of the Magic game, a cautiously optimistic sign as Detroit, locked in as the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed, eyes a deep postseason run without its star point guard at full strength.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Pistons’ Coach Reveals Real Reason Pistons Lost to Magic appeared first on Heavy Sports.