J.B. Bickerstaff on Isaiah Stewart, who scored 19 points in 124-112 victory over Milwaukee at Little Caesars Arena.
J.B. Bickerstaff on Isaiah Stewart, who scored 19 points in 124-112 victory over Milwaukee at Little Caesars Arena.
Detroit — J.B. Bickerstaff has a notable history of developing guards throughout his career, both as an assistant and as a head coach. On Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena, two of his prodigies went head-to-head — Cade Cunningham and Kevin Porter Jr.
Both guards put on a scoring display in an attempt to lead their respective teams to a victory. However, Cunningham won on a team basis, leading the Detroit Pistons to a 124-112 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. The Pistons improved to 19-5 overall and 4-1 during the second night of a back-to-back.
“[The] second night of back-to-backs are the tough ones,” Cunningham said. “Those are the ones you have to grind out, and that’s the strength of this team — the dirty, nasty games [where we have to] come together and grind those games out.”
Cunningham led Detroit with his 12th double-double of the season with 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting, 12 assists and six rebounds. The All-Star guard spent most of the night trading baskets with Porter, who scored a game-high 32 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field, 7-of-9 from behind the arc.
BOX SCORE: Pistons 124, Bucks 112
Porter was the primary reason the Bucks stayed competitive against the Pistons in the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who missed his second consecutive game due to the calf injury he sustained against Detroit three nights earlier.
Porter has bounced around the league throughout his six-year career. But as a first-round pick for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2019, Bickerstaff was instrumental in his early development. Despite the issues that plagued his lone season in Cleveland, Bickerstaff recognized Porter’s potential early on.
“As a rookie, he and I spent a ton of time together; you recognize the personal growth, but you recognize the growth in his game as well,” Bickerstaff said. “You would always see flashes of talent, but the rhythm, the timing, the win, and the time and the place he was still working at.”
Although Cunningham and Porter had a duel, the Pistons came away with the win thanks to the team’s overall contributions. The Pistons had seven players who scored in double figures, led by Isaiah Stewart’s 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including three 3-pointers.
Jalen Duren contributed with a double-double of his own, recording 16 rebounds and 16 points, while Ausar Thompson finished with 13 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Javonte Green and Caris LeVert led Detroit’s bench unit with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
“These are the best [wins] where we move the ball around and everybody gets a piece of the action. Everybody just played a great brand of basketball,” Cunningham said. “That was the change in the game for us. These are the fun ones, [when] everybody gets in on it.”
Jaden Ivey has proven himself to be another standout among the guards Bickerstaff has helped develop. Early in the fourth quarter, he made back-to-back 3-pointers, which allowed Detroit to build a lead that ultimately led to their second win of the season against their divisional rival.
Ivey notched 10 points and five rebounds in 15 minutes. In his ninth game of the 2025-26 campaign, Ivey is starting to resemble the player who thrived under Bickerstaff before his season-ending injury in January.
“He (Bickerstaff) has helped me a lot when it comes to how I can manipulate the game and get guys involved,” Cunningham said. “He does a great job of explaining it and translating things to us in terms of how we can understand it. He just has a great feel for the game.”
Observations and notes
▶ Marcus Sasser returns from injury: Tobias Harris was out with a left ankle sprain; however, the Pistons did get some good news. Due to a hip injury sustained during training camp, Marcus Sasser was active for the first time this season. Sasser made his first appearance at the 4:13 mark of the fourth quarter. He played only four minutes, finishing with two assists.
▶ A shorter rotation: With the team returning to full health, Bickerstaff considered implementing a 13-man rotation, believing the team’s talent could support it. Over the past two weeks, he tested the idea; however, during the game against the Bucks, he shortened his rotation. Before the game was beyond reach, Bickerstaff settled on a 10-man rotation, utilizing Ron Holland II, Javonte Green, Jaden Ivey and Paul Reed. Sasser, Chaz Lanier and Daniss Jenkins checked in only after the game was secured.
▶ Turnovers: Perhaps tired legs and mental fatigue are behind the Pistons’ turnover issues. Bickerstaff emphasized the need to improve their ball security during his pregame remarks, but the Pistons still struggled. Their failure to handle the ball kept the Bucks in the game, as they scored 17 points off Detroit’s 13 turnovers in the first half. The Pistons would go on to clean up their ball security in the second half, committing only three turnovers.
“That was the difference. In that first half when we got a shot, we got really good looks and were shooting a high percentage,” Bickerstaff said. “We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot by turning the ball over, and then that puts stress on our defense also. Once we are able to settle in and make the easy play and get comfortable doing that, we were able to take off and build a pretty big lead.”
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