The Pistons look to take on the 33-27 Bulls at the palace tonight at 7:30 PM. The bulls are in the 5th seed in the East and the Pistons are still fighting for the 8th spot. The Bulls are a big Piston rival and you should see a good one tonight. They play the Bulls one more time next month on April 11th and are currently tied at 1-1 on the season series. The Pistons will look to take the lead in the series tonight and close it out strong next month.
In their first meeting this season, the Bulls took over and won that game 79-99. The Pistons only scored 11 points in the fourth and 10 less points than the Bulls in the 3rd. It was a tight game through the first half and then everything fell apart in the 2nd half.
Derrick Rose was obviously out during this matchup and now forward for the Cavaliers, Luol Deng, scored the game high 27 points. Rodney Stuckey was close on his tail at 25 for the game.
In December, the Pistons took the game with a 92-75 final score. Unlike the first game, they outscored them in both quarters by a lot in the 2nd half and stayed pretty close during the 1st half.
Brandon Jennings scored a season high, 33 points in the victory and also added 2 steals to his stat line. Taj Gibson scored 22 and has been on fire against the Pistons this season, scoring around 20 points in the first 2 meetings. In the second meeting, The Pistons shot a season high, 63% from the three point line and an about average 42% from the field. They also converted 80% of their free throws and led in rebounds, blocks, and were tied at steals with 8 a piece.
The first games stats were way worse for the Pistons and they were still struggling for chemistry. By time the 2nd matchup came along, they were seeming like a good team and then started to plummet down the standings after many losses.
Now, they face a different situation as they are the team standing on the outside looking in and the Bulls are up there in the top five seed. The Pistons will need a good game from their starters and also good defense to stop Taj Gibson. The Pistons need to play this game as a team if they want to claw their way back to the top of the standings.
There is 22 games left for the Pistons and with the struggling Hawks in the 8th seed, the Pistons have a chance at a playoff push if they go around 12 wins and 10 losses to close out the regular season.
Don’t forget to watch on FS Detroit or tune into 97.1 FM to see this exiting rivalry showdown with the Chicago Bulls.
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