Pistons Beat Pacers, Have Won 5 of 7

Detroit defended its home court tonight against a scrappy Pacers team with some good young players of their own. The 111-106 win is the fifth for Detroit over the last seven games and really has the young Pistons feeling pretty good.

Newly acquired Marvin Bagley III scored 18 points tonight as he continues to get acclimated as a Piston. The 6-11 big man spoke about how he's feeling now that winning is happening a little more often, at least lately, and what it means down the line.

"It's just a matter of getting comfortable," Bagley said. "Everyday just picking away at the system, the terminology, the plays. That's what my mindset has been ever since I got here. I'm trying to learn on the fly still but I think I'm getting the hang of it and I'm excited to keep moving forward."

Saddiq Bey led the Pistons with 25 points, including 18 from behind the three-point line, and Cade Cunningham nearly had another double-double going for 20 of his own with nine boards. Bench players like Hamidou Diallo, Kelly Olynyk and Rodney McGruder continue to give the Pistons boosts here and there, and even rookie Isaiah Livers is starting to chip in with a timely play whenever he's on the floor. Tonight it was a three pointer followed by an offensive rebound and a put back to close out the third quarter.

Head coach Dwane Casey did point out a few weak areas tonight — most notably giving up 21 offensive rebounds and losing an assignment which led to a wide open three-point look as the clock ran down, but overall he was in good spirits and spoke much more about the growth of his young team.

"There's a lot of growth," Casey said. "We're connected on the offensive end and down the stretch in the fourth quarter we got better defensively. Guys are playing together and playing for each other."

The Pistons will now have two days off to rest and recover before hitting the hardwood on Monday to host the Atlanta Hawks, which is another winnable game for Detroit. It would be great to see the Pistons string together their first three-game winning streak of the season now that they're healthy and playing at a higher level.