The Detroit Pistons are already halfway to matching last season’s win total. They can achieve a .500 record with a home victory over the Chicago Bulls on Monday night.
Coming off their worst season in franchise history with just 14 wins, the Pistons have shown significant improvement under first-year coach J.B. Bickerstaff. They have won six of their last nine games, and even in their losses, they’ve been competitive, dropping a one-point game on a last-second putback at Charlotte, losing by two points to Houston, and falling in overtime to Milwaukee.
On Sunday night, the Pistons recorded their most decisive victory of the season with a 124-104 win over the Washington Wizards.
Detroit’s backcourt duo of Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey led the charge once again. Cunningham notched his seventh double-double of the season with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, along with five steals to ignite the defense.
Ivey recorded season highs with 28 points and eight assists. He has scored 20 or more points six times this season.
The Bulls, also on the second night of a back-to-back, have struggled defensively, giving up 144 points to Cleveland on Friday and 143 in a 36-point loss to Houston on Sunday.
The Bulls only made 33.6 percent of their overall attempts and 25 percent of their 56 three-point shots.
Monday will be the first of four meetings between these Eastern Conference Central Division rivals. The other three games will be played during an 11-day stretch in February. They split their four-game series last season.
