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PORTLAND, OR — Before the Detroit Pistons officially tipped off their five-game West Coast road trip on Monday, Dec. 22, against the Portland Trail Blazers, coach J.B. Bickerstaff laid out their keys to success. Namely, sticking to a routine and staying sharp, both physically and mentally.
So far, so good. The Pistons opened the trip with a 110-102 win over the Blazers at Moda Center to improve to 23-6. It’s the franchise’s second-best start through 29 games, behind only the 2005-06 squad that started 25-4 before reaching the Eastern Conference finals.
But it wasn’t easy, as they unraveled late Monday and gave up a 21-point lead before rallying with a late run. It served as a wake-up call as they embark on a long holiday swing that’ll keep them on the road for the rest of 2025.
After the Pistons tied their biggest lead of the night, 90-69, with under four minutes left in the third quarter. Portland opened the fourth with a 22-4 run (as part of an overall 31-9 run) to briefly take the lead, 100-99.
In that stretch, Bickerstaff picked up a technical foul after arguing with officials following a challenge by Portland, which rescinded a defensive foul called on Donovan Clingan. Then, Cade Cunningham fouled out after the Blazers cut their lead to nine, 97-88, with 8:32 to go. Cunningham also picked up a technical foul on his way to the bench, adding more fuel to Portland’s run.
After entering halftime with zero fouls, Cunningham picked up six in the second half – not counting the tech – in just over nine minutes of play.
“It was discipline on our part, myself included,” Bickerstaff said of Portland’s late run. “Making sure, again, that we toe the line, that we stay focused on the task at hand. I felt like we got away from that. That’s my responsibility to hold them to it but also act according. We’ve gotta do a better job of that. Give our guys a ton of credit down the stretch.
“So many guys made so many plays for us. Tobias [Harris’] poise, out there helping [Ausar Thompson] with the steals, his boards, [Jalen Duren] with a huge offensive rebound. We had so many guys that helped us close that game out. It speaks to the depth and the collective of this team.”
A past version of this Pistons team might’ve lost the game. But with Cunningham on the bench, they were able to re-focus and close the game with an 11-2 run. Thompson, Harris and Duren each had four points in the final period, during which they shot 6-for-24 overall as a team and were outscored by 24-15 after winning the first there quarters.
The 12-17 Blazers couldn’t string together enough possessions late to hold on. They missed five free throws in the final period, with four of the misses coming in the final 3:16. It was a close escape for the Pistons, who then headed to Sacramento, California, on Tuesday to face the Kings on the second night of a back-to-back.
“I thought that fifth foul was a foul that he could’ve done without,” Bickerstaff said of Cunningham. “He’s done so much and did so much tonight to help get us to that lead. It’s just our responsibility, he and I as leaders of this team, to be more disciplined down the stretch.”
The Pistons initially learned how to maintain discipline on the road almost exactly a year ago during a different West Coast trip. From Dec. 23-26, 2024, they defeated the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings, to puck up ther first three-game winning streak of the season. It set the tone for the rest of the year, as they finished 33-21 after entering the Suns game at 11-17.
A year later, they’re on top of the Eastern Conference and establishing themselves as a contender. This trip is an opportunity for them to put an exclamation point on the season leading into 2026. The key? Staying disciplined and making sure their issues Monday were an outlier.
“Same approach,” Duren said. “Detroit Basketball travels. We’re going to keep the same energy we would have if we were home. It’s family time, people got their families around, it’s Christmas time, whatever. The main thing is still the main thing. We’re all focused on that and we’re all focused on winning the road trip.”
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