Detroit's J.B. Bickerstaff sends bold message on 'Pistons basketball' after win over Celtics originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Detroit Pistons pulled off a comeback win for their opening game of the NBA's regular season, and it really couldn't have been more dramatic. The team came from behind to win this matchup in a 121-113 victory.
The Pistons' stars were obviously on the court, including Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren, the latter of whom just inked a five-year, $200 million fully guaranteed contract with the team.
After the game, Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff spoke to reporters about what this win meant to kick off Detroit's season.
The Pistons' comeback win showed why Detroit's gritty identity could make the team tough to beat
"The opponent doesn't matter. What people say doesn't matter," Bickerstaff said, according to ESPN. "The only thing that matters is if we play Pistons basketball. I thought tonight we found enough stretches where we did, and when we played Pistons basketball, we're hard to beat. That's the only thing that matters."
While some Detroit fans perhaps would have preferred a win that didn't have them biting their nails up until the end, Duren told reporters that the team's big comeback "just embodied the culture and what we're trying to build here."
He added, per ESPN, "We're a team that's known to be gritty, known to get it out the mud, known to never quit, and that's our identity. Even the guys who are new here are embodying that. And that's why we were able to have the outcome that we had."
Before the game, Cunningham spoke to the Detroit crowd and thanked them for everything. "All my teammates, the entire Pistons organization wants to say thank you for all the love and support," he said.
Next up, the Pistons head to Florida to take on the Miami Heat on Friday.