What's behind the Pistons' hot start to the new year and can they keep going?

It's only been three games, but the Pistons already have more wins in January than they did in all of December

For the first time since last March, the Detroit Pistons can say they’ve built a winning streak.

After victories over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday and Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, Detroit was undefeated in the New Year and already has more wins in January than it did in all of December.

A 140-111 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday snapped the streak but left a few lingering questions.

Did the Pistons simply get lucky against teams that underperformed, or did they finally turn a corner with a young roster, doing things that can lead to sustained competitiveness?

A look at the tape – and the numbers – suggests it’s the latter. If the Pistons can sustain the type of defensive activity they’ve shown the last couple games, they’ll continue to prove so.

Against the defending NBA champion Bucks this week, the Pistons played with an energy on the defensive side of the ball that wasn’t present when these teams last met. Whether it’s young players gaining a better understanding of defensive assignments and rotations or coach Dwane Casey finally hammering home the importance of defending, they’ve been getting to the ball faster and with an urgency that simply didn’t exist before this stretch.

According to NBA Stats, the Pistons rank fourth in the number of average field goal attempts they’ve contested in their previous two games before losing to Charlotte—a huge leap for a team that is bottom five on the season. In those games, their opponent field goal percentage on defended shots dropped by more than five percentage points.

Detroit’s improved defensive effort can actually be traced back four games when they played the New York Knicks. The Pistons lost, but they held the Knicks to just 94 points on 38 percent shooting from the field and 26 percent from three—bad by even the Knicks’ low standards. Before Wednesday, the Pistons held a defensive rating of 103.8 in their last three games, a dramatic improvement on their 110.5 for the year and a number that would rank second in the NBA over the entire season.

There have also been other variables impacting Detroit’s performance, too. Saddiq Bey is in the midst of a career stretch, averaging 25 points in his last nine games, 29 in the last three, and he hit the game-winner against the Spurs. Against Milwaukee, top draft pick Cade Cunningham, Trey Lyles, Killian Hayes, Josh Jackson and others returned to the lineup from COVID-19 protocols. But at the root of their mini-win streak, no matter who was in the lineup, was an ability to get stops. 

Detroit may not make the postseason anytime soon with, but the rebuild is beginning to show signs of life that didn’t exist when the year began. That can only help push the franchise along as it looks to become a powerhouse in the East once again.