On January 4, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued to unfold, and the Bucks played at home against the Pistons. I thought it would be a no-suspense showdown, but I didn't expect the Pistons to be in better shape this time, clinging to the score in the first half, trailing by only 3 points after half-time; in the second half, Sadiq Bay scored 14 points in a single quarter, leading the team to successfully reverse the score, and the Pistons also withstood the Bucks' counterattack in the last quarter. In the end, the Pistons beat the Bucks 115-106 to win two straight games while ending a six-game winning streak.
The Pistons have been sluggish this season, with only a 6-28 record before this game, ranking first in the league. The Bucks, on the other hand, are the defending champions, and their form was sluggish at the beginning of the season, but now they have reached the third place in the East, and they have an absolute upper hand in strength. Unfortunately, this time they failed to limit the Pistons' offense, allowing the opponent to hit 18 three-pointers, shooting 41.9%; in contrast, the Bucks' own shooting rate was only 23.9%, and the gap came out.
In this campaign, Alphabet Brother is still the team's best player, playing 35 minutes and 36 seconds, shooting 11 of 21 shots, 4 of 3-pointers, 9 of 13 free throws, and 31 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. This is also his 30+ scores in 3 consecutive games, the first 2 times he led the team to victory, but unfortunately this time it became an empty cut. Holliday also played well this time, shooting 11 of 19, 4 of 8 three-pointers, with 29 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists; unfortunately, Middleton's hand was sluggish, and he only scored 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting, failing to bring enough firepower support.
In terms of pistons, the new branch Champion Cunningham returned from the ban, this time he was in good shape, playing 37 minutes, 8 of 15 shooting, 3 of 7 three-pointers, 19 points and 7 assists, although there were 5 mistakes, but he was the highest in the game plus-minus +13 in the whole team. The Pistons have had no desires this season, and the only thing to look forward to is to let Corningham get more exercise opportunities and grow up early.
Cunningham played well, but he was not the big contributor to the team's upset victory, this belonged to Sadiq Bay. He played 39 minutes, shooting 12-of-22, 8-of-13 three-pointers, and had 34 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, not losing to Brother Alphabet at all. In the last nine games, he has averaged 25 points and nine rebounds per game, and has also hit 3.7 three-pointers, filling the gap left by Grant. In addition, Josh Jackson on the bench had 5 of 7 three-pointers and 24 points and five rebounds. After the upset defeat to the defending champion, the Pistons' record reached 7-28, temporarily bidding farewell to the bottom of the league.