J.B. Bickerstaff Articulates What Winning Has Taught Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons are finding any way to win basketball games this regular season. It's arguably the most fascinating story of the entire NBA season when it's looked at in its totality.

MVP candidate and All-Star starter Cade Cunningham led the Pistons into a battle against the Denver Nuggets without three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets had a win-loss record of 9-5 without Jokic before this game.

Despite maintaining a decent distance between themselves and the Nuggets most of the game, a late fourth quarter surge of offense for Denver made things interesting. When it was all said and done, the Pistons survived Denver in their home arena by just two points. Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff spoke to the media following the victory to discuss what winning games like this does for their team in the future.

Growth, maturity, and experience

This Detroit Pistons team has grown up very quickly. They've earned their success quickly and they're handling it with a rare maturity we don't usually see from a team so young. The Pistons have an average age of 24.9 years old.

"It's growth and maturity and it's experience, right? What we went through last year gave us the belief and confidence that we could and that's what it takes. That's the hardest thing to do is to begin to win cause there's so much that goes into it, there's so many plays on both sides of the floor that end up impacting winning and losing."
Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff

The playoffs are bound to be intense. It's not disciplined to believe you'll mow down the competiton by a large margin every time. Surviving games like this during the middle and late stages of the regular season builds muscle memory and mental toughness. This allows Detroit to be comfortable when clutch situations arise when they matter most.

What Bickerstaff liked about Nuggets win

Bickerstaff was asked about what he saw from his players in the win Tuesday night and what he liked about their effort.

"The understanding of win. I thought guys made the right plays at the right time...that's the thing with our group, we can throw multiple bodies at people, stay fresh and wear other people down. Our guys are picking up guys full-court, you know, somebody goes out another guy comes in and does the same thing. We play with that physicality so some of the fouls we live with."
Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff

Cade Cunningham and Tobias Harris both led the Pistons in scoring Tuesday night with 22 points each. Cunningham paired his 22 points with 11 assists as well. Forward Ausar Thompson scored 14 points on just two missed shots, made all four of his free throws, and snagged five steals for Detroit in the victory.

Detroit travels to Phoenix to play Dillon Brooks and the Suns Thursday night at 9:00pm Eastern