Pistons' Lack of Urgency vs Bulls Isn't Overlooked by Cade Cunningham

After an inspiring preseason, the Detroit Pistons came out flat in their first matchup of the 2025-2026 regular season.

Facing a Chicago Bulls team that’s viewed as one of the rebuilding squads in the Eastern Conference, the Pistons didn’t look like the same team that made a playoff push from one year ago.

“We allowed them to be too free,” Pistons star Cade Cunningham said after the game. “It took us too long to put a stand to it.”

Through the first half of action, the Bulls led the Pistons by as many as 23 points. Chicago shot 7-15 from beyond the arc, making over 45 percent of their shots from the field. Meanwhile, on the other side, the Pistons went 3-11 from deep, and took four fewer shots from the field.

Heading into halftime, the Pistons trailed 64-49.

Throughout the second half, the Pistons woke up and started to look like the high-energy team with the ability to dominate on the both sides of the floor that they showed plenty of glimses of last season. But that first half of action was too deep of a hole to dig out of, especially when they split a 60-point third quarter with the Bulls, while already trailing by double digits.

The NBA has seen plenty of comebacks before, but the lack of urgency from the jump on Wednesday night was too much for Detroit to overcome.

“We just have to be better, man,” Cunningham said. “We have to come out with more urgency. This is the year that we want to get something done, so that’s not an appropriate way to start.”

Cade: “We just have to be better, man. We have to come out with more urgency. This is the year that we want to get something done, so that’s not an appropriate way to start.” pic.twitter.com/oAXSGzqAur
— Omari Sankofa II (@omarisankofa) October 23, 2025

One game doesn’t define the Pistons’ upcoming season. They can think back to last year when it took several games to collect their first win, before putting together a top-six season in the Eastern Conference.

However, the bar of expectations is too high for the Pistons to acccept such a lackluster performance this time around. Heading into the season, the Pistons are expected to be one of the top teams in the East, not only competing for a spot in the playoffs, but having a chance to win one or more series.

They got off on the wrong foot with a 115-111 loss against Chicago. Cunningham struggled on a personal level, making just eight of his 24 shots, going 1-6 from deep. He finished the game with 23 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds in 34 minutes of action.

The road won’t get much easier for Detroit. On Friday, they will pay a visit to the Houston Rockets, who are coming off a tough double-overtime battle against the Oklahoma City Thunder. On Sunday, the Pistons will host their first home game of the year against the Boston Celtics.