How Jaden Ivey's return improved red-hot Detroit Pistons

The east-leading Detroit Pistons are in the midst of one of their great winning streaks in franchise history, and they are only now starting to get healthy.

Back on Jan. 1, rising-star Jaden Ivey went down with a broken leg. He would go on to miss the rest of the 2024-25 season, and underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Oct. 16. That delayed his start to this season as well.

Finally, against the Milwaukee Bucks, Ivey was back though. He obviously didn’t play much, just 15 minutes off the bench, but he impressed in his limited action.

He managed to score 10 points on 4/6 shooting, including hitting a three. He also had a couple of assists, a rebound and a steal in a 129-116 win.

While those numbers won’t jump out at anyone, it’s incredibly impressive for a guy who’s playing in just his second NBA game of 2025, with the only other one being the game he broke his leg in.

The Pistons are expected to slowly keep working him back into the rotation, until he’s comfortable to rejoin the starting lineup.

“We’ll just make sure he’s comfortable. That’s the most important thing. We all know as much as you train and run sprints and that stuff, basketball-shape is different. The only way you can get into that is playing, and it’s been almost a year for him for that,” Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “We just want to make sure we are cautious with him, and make sure he’s comfortable every step of the way.”

It’ll still be a bit of a process for Ivey as he tries to regain his strength and condition to an NBA level, but it has certainly been encouraging to see him return to action and look natural.

Ivey wasn’t the player returning from injury in the game either. Starting forward Tobias Harris made his return to action after missing several weeks with an ankle injury.

Harris went straight back to the starting lineup, where he played 23 minutes. He scored 18 points on 79% shooting, and had five rebounds, four assists and a block. His presence was certainly missed in the front court, and it was a huge benefit to have him back.

In just seven games played this year, Harris is averaging 14 points, six boards and three assists.

As impressive as this unit has been so far this season, it’ll only get better as the players start getting healthy again. The Pistons could be ready for a special season if everyone is able to progress as expected.