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J.B. Bickerstaff did not hide what cost the Detroit Pistons in Monday’s 94-88 loss to the Orlando Magic.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s tough,” the Pistons coach said. “Obviously I thought we did so many positive things, but you look up 20 turnovers and give up 16 offensive rebounds. That’s going to be hard to overcome.”
Orlando’s win at Kia Center pushed Detroit to the edge of elimination and gave the Magic a 3-1 series lead. Game 5 is Wednesday night in Detroit, where Bickerstaff said the message remains simple.
“I mean, again, it’s the simple things,” he said. “It’s take care of the ball and rebound the basketball.”
The numbers backed up his point. Detroit committed 20 turnovers, and Bickerstaff said those mistakes directly fed Orlando’s offense.
“39 of their 94 points came from our turnovers and their second chance points,” he said. “And we knew coming in that’s what this was going to be.”
Cade Cunningham again carried the Pistons’ half-court offense, but he also had eight turnovers. Bickerstaff said Orlando is loading up on the All-Star guard and forcing Detroit to help him more.
“Yeah, I mean they’re sending a lot of bodies to him and we got to help him by giving him more space so that he has room to operate, set screens for him, be a little more physical, get the guys off of him,” Bickerstaff said.
He added that Cunningham’s workload and minutes are being managed with the game flow in mind. “I mean obviously we need to have him on the floor,” he said. “And with the longer timeouts they get more chance to rest.”
Isaiah Stewart was one of Detroit’s bright spots, and Bickerstaff praised his rim protection and floor spacing.
“Yeah, I mean he’s doing a great job protecting the rim,” he said. “Obviously he creates spacing with his ability to knock down shots, but again he’s the heart of it to be able to defend the way that he does, make the interior so tough to score in there.”
The coach also pointed to Jalen Duren’s difficulty getting clean touches against Orlando’s size and pressure. “Again, it’s the bodies that they put in the paint, the amount of people and attention that they’re putting on him,” Bickerstaff said.
Even with the setback, Bickerstaff insisted Detroit will answer at home. “We’re going to come out punching, that I promise you,” he said. “We’re not going to lay down for anybody.”
