Although Toronto rested their starters due to being on the second night of a back-to-back (who schedules that in the preseason?), it was a competitive game until the final buzzer between the Raptors and the Pistons. Thanks to some late-game heroics from Ebuka Okorie, Detroit finished the preseason with a 129-125 victory.
Cade Cunningham led the way for the Pistons with 18 points on an efficient 67% from the field along with seven assists. Jalen Duren was next with 14 points, and his growing offensive game continues to be a fun addition to the offense. He hit a nice fadeaway after a post spin that we didn’t see from him last year.
Ausar Thompson was full of highlights tonight and did a little bit of everything with 12 points, three rebounds, and four assists. Every time he shows a new improvement on offense, I get way too excited about it. I mean, check out this improved handle:
And this midrange pull-up:
Collins also had 12 points to go along with eight rebounds. He hit a nice three from the wing off a Cade assist, and also added this strong jump-stop dunk:
Rookie Ebuka Okorie only played nine minutes but finished with 14 points while shooting 4-for-4 from the field. He has looked like he has belonged as an NBA player so far, so it’ll be interesting to see where his opportunities come from in the regular season. He put on a little shake-and-bake (a few times) late in the game:
The Pistons finish the preseason with a 3-1 record, and we’re now on to regular season basketball. There’s a lot to be excited about through the first four games with the flashes we’ve seen from Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren as they take on more creation opportunities. With more shooting around Detroit’s three core guys, I’m intrigued by giving more on-ball reps to AT and JD to help them reach their offensive ceilings.
The 2025-2026 NBA season will start officially on Tuesday afternoon as Detroit opens the year against the Boston Celtics at 3:00 PM EST.
Go Stones.
