3 Takeaways & Player Grades: Bulls Drop Eighth Straight in Loss to Pistons (126-110)

The Chicago Bulls failed to beat the best team in the Eastern Conference. I know, gasp!

While Josh Giddey had a very solid showing in his second game back, the Detroit Pistons put together a dominant third quarter to hand Chicago their eighth consecutive loss. The 126-110 defeat now marks the Bulls' fourth loss by 16+ points in the last six games.

3 Takeaways

Heating Up

To the Chicago Bulls' credit, the night started better than anyone expected. They held a lead on the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference throughout much of the first quarter. To be sure, the size discrepancy down low was making its presence felt, but the Bulls were able to counteract that with some sharpshooting from long range.

Detroit has ranked bottom 10 in the NBA in both three-point attempts and three-point percentage for much of the year. The Bulls may not have had the muscle to make things interesting, but they had the jump shooting. They started the evening an impressive 8-9 from behind the arc. This more than made up for their 1-7 start from inside the paint, leading them to the early 30-28 lead heading into the second frame.

The Bulls also looked up to the challenge defensively. While the execution was far from perfect, the Pistons proceeded to go just 8-19 from inside the restricted area in the second quarter. The Bulls also managed to hold them to this ugly display without sending them to the free throw line. A team that shoots the third-most attempts a night, the Pistons failed to reach the charity stripe a single time in the quarter.

Detroit was able to barely reclaim the lead heading into the halftime break, but the Bulls looked ready to muck things up for four quarters. Unfortunately for them, they only succeeded for two.

Cooling Off

As tight as things were in the second quarter, the Bulls' sudden cool-off was a concern. They followed up their excellent first 12 minutes with a 1-8 performance from downtown. The early exit for Anfernee Simons, in particular, raised some massive red flags. Arguably this team's best shotmaker, the Bulls were forced to yank him from the game after he clocked only 13 minutes of action due to a wrist injury. He also looked a bit out of sorts after appearing off the bench for the first time in his Bulls career.

The real problem for Chicago, however, came on the defensive end. The truth is that this small rotation was never going to be able to hang physically with the Pistons all night long. Detroit came out of the break as confident as could be, scoring 12 points in roughly 2 minutes to suddenly go up double digits.

The Pistons dominated the Bulls inside with a 10-13 showing in the restricted area. Duren was gliding through Chicago's weak interior defense with ease, finishing multiple dunks and layups. They would go on to drop 44 points in the quarter for their third-highest scoring frame of the season. This also put them in a position to finish the night with an incredible 68-38 advantage in the points in the paint department. Major yikes!

Turnover Troubles

As new as this group might be, the turnover troubles are unacceptable. They finished with 23 for the second consecutive game, and they have now had at least 17 in all but one outing since the All-Star break. Detroit scored 28 points off these slip-ups.

A smaller backcourt, the Bulls have really struggled with length along the perimeter. Their new big men have also run into serious trouble corraling entry passes and putting the ball on the ground in any capacity. One would have thought that the return of Josh Giddey and Tre Jones would have helped right the ship offensively, but this has yet to be the case.

Five Chicago Bulls Player Grades

Matas Buzelis of the Chicago Bulls — Feb 21, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Duncan Robinson (55) defends Chicago Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (14) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

Josh Giddey – A
Stats: 27 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST

Despite his five turnovers, Josh Giddey deserves respect for his aggressiveness tonight. He looked incredibly rusty in his first game back on Thursday, only to have a stellar 10-16 shooting performance with five made triples. Yes, he needs to do an even better job setting up this new-look team, but it's encouraging to see him have such an efficient scoring night against one of the NBA's best defenses.

Matas Buzelis – B+
Stats: 15 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL, 6 BLK

Matas Buzelis played the right way. He was hustling hard from start to finish and recorded a career-high 6 blocks. With that said, I want to see him taking more than 10 shot attempts when things are going this poorly overall.

Jalen Smith – B
Stats: 15 PTS, 7 REB, 2 AST, 3 BLK

Jalen Smith had a tough task against this Pistons frontcourt but looked up to the challenge. He went 5-6 from the field, which included draining three shots from deep. The final score may not show it, but he had a positive impact on this game.

Tre Jones – C
Stats: 7 PTS, 6 AST, 2 STL

Tre Jones did not play a part in the turnover troubles tonight (duh), but he struggled to get much going for himself in the scoring column. The Bulls could have used a little more from him in the open floor.

Nick Richards – C-
Stats: 5 PTS, 5 REB, 5 TOV

One of the most imposing players on this roster, the Bulls simply needed more from Richards tonight.