At least Detroit found a bench

The Pistons did not come very far from the feat on Saturday night in Detroit against the Bucks. Defeated 141-135, the troops of Monty Williams kept Milwaukee at bay for a long time before cracking at the end in front of 45 points and 11 assists from Damian Lillard.

If Detroit has resisted as long as it has, it is largely thanks to the contribution of its bench which has perhaps found a new identity, with the confirmation that the adjustments caused by the arrivals of Danilo Gallinari And Mike Muscala are obviously the good ones.

The two veterans were able to find themselves with the rest of the “second-unit” made up of Marcus Sasser, Alec Burks and Ausar Thompson, contributing 8 and 13 points respectively.

85 points scored out of 135

While Danilo Gallinari had been credited with a good debut under his new colors, Mike Muscala was one of the good surprises of the Pistons' good start. For his second match with Detroit, the former Thunder interior notably contributed to the 21-9 passing at the end of the first quarter with two 3-point baskets as soon as he entered the game before passing the baton to Alec Burks who fired three times.

Likewise, Muscala then stood out at the start of the fourth quarter with two new 3-pointers in less than 30 seconds to put his team back in the lead (106-105).

“The guys fought, and it’s an honor to be in combat with them”said Mike Muscala after the match. “It was a good match, we just didn't know how to finish the job, particularly on defense. We have the opportunity to play them again this Monday. It’s of course a big team, with a lot of weapons in attack, but I think we fought well.”

With 85 points scored including 33 for Alec Burks alone but also a big game from Ausar Thompson (22 points, 9 rebounds), the good performance of this second five was one of the points of satisfaction of the evening for Monty Williams .

“Having Ausar come off the bench and make shots was huge for his confidence and for the development of our young group”, did he declare. “Gallinari and Mike fit in perfectly and understand the way we play. Burks was phenomenal. His ability to score, communicate and help the young guys on the pitch helped us a lot. We're not used to having this kind of production off the bench, but with the veterans we have, it helps us a lot.”

The association will have the opportunity to confirm this first encouraging outing tomorrow evening, still against Milwaukee at home.