Cade Cunningham. Jalen Duran. Ausar Thompson. Jaden Ivey. Tobias Harris. Out. All out. The Detroit Pistons starting five were all nursing icing their wounds on Wednesday night with the Bulls bussing in from Chicago.

Didn’t matter.

124-113 victory to win their 8th straight game, their flag at the top of the Eastern Conference remains uncaptured.

Duncan Robinson started Detroit’s night off with a 3, finishing with 23 points and 7 total made threes. In the absence of Jaden Ivey, the 5th overall pick in the 2022 draft who was expected to become Cade’s backcourt running mate but cannot get his knees right, Duncan Robinson provides crucial perimeter shooting and big game experience from his years getting barked on by Jimmy Butler in Miami.

Paul Reed was the Pistons leading scorer, putting up 28 points with 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals, the backup big man stepping up for his fallen brother, Jalen Duran.

But can we talk about Daniss Jenkins real quick?

Sign Daniss Jenkins to the Super Max

Daniis Jenkins is a 24-year-old, 2nd-year point guard out of St. John’s—playing on a 10-day contract—who just recorded 18 points and 12 assists in the absence of Cade Cunningham.

He moves like Ja Morant, able to navigate pick-and-rolls with calmness, making quick decisions to scare defenses. He throws amazing pocket passes to big men rolling to the basket and he gets in guys’ jerseys on D.

Jenkins scored 18 on Wednesday and 24 the game before against the Wizards.

Prior to this season, Daniss’s career-high was 5 points.

Detroit should wait to see Jaden Ivey return before making drastic changes but for the second consecutive season, the Pistons have proven to be juuuust fine without him.

They’re sitting on an incredible trade chip, a former lottery pick, a mystery box player who can be cashed in for real, win-now talent.

And there will be no loss in backcourt production thanks to the rise of Daniss Jenkins.

I look forward to watching Jaden Ivey and Ryan Rollins in Milwaukee battling VJ Edgecomb and Tyrese Maxey in the play-in tournament the next few years.

The Detroit Pistons are the best team in the East

Here’s Paul Reed describing the Pistons unity after the big win against the Bulls:

“Off the court, it’s been the small things — going out to eat together on the road, trips this offseason,” Reed said after earning BTA honors. “There were a couple of us that pulled up to JD (Jalen Duren) Day — it’s just little things like that. I feel like that’s what brings us together. And then when we’re going through adversity, we can talk to each other a certain type of way and know it’s not coming from a negative place.
“It’s kind of like a brotherhood at this point.”

Can’t overlook just how important it is for players—who spend every single day together for half the year—to genuinely like each other.

Congrats to MJ and Kobe winning through their teammates’ contempt for them—but the best teams actually like hanging together.

It’s how the Pistons can beat the Bulls with their best players in loungewear, watching from the folding chairs.

Coincidence has not carried Detroit to the top of the standings.

Now, as I have to keep reminding myself, the NBA season just started. Detroit may be on an 8-game winning streak but look at the teams they beat:

• Chicago
• Washington
• Philadelphia
• Brooklyn
• Utah
• Memphis
• Dallas
• Orlando

It’s not as if Detroit is crushing title contenders.

But a win is a win.

This organization is only two seasons removed from losing 28 straight games, the longest losing streak in NBA history.

Now they are so aligned, top-to-bottom, they can win games with Cade Cunningham taking 46 shot attempts or games with Cade Cunningham on the sidelines.

Quick Chicago Bulls Takes

• The Bulls are still good: Chicago was once in Detroit’s position—shocking the NBA world with a hot start—landing them atop the East—but after losing to the Pistons Wednesday night, the Bulls fall to 6-5—looking like every other middling Eastern Conference team struggling to climb out of the play-in tournament. Never fun losing to a team missing all their best players but the Bulls fought back. Down 16 points after 3 quarters, Chicago scored the first 11 points of the 4th quarter to make it a 5-point game. These are not the same Zach LaVine-led losers.
• Josh Giddey is needed: Don’t let the OKC Thunder winning a championship the moment Josh Giddey left the locker room trick you into believing Giddey is buns. This man is an essential worker in Chicago, the team 0-2 as he recovers from an ankle injury. His is an instant mismatch, pace accelerator, rebounder, shot creator, who cannot be replicated in the aggregate. The modern NBA is all about finding unique skillsets and pairing them with other unique skillsets. Giddey opens things up for Matas Buzelis and Nikola Vucevic in ways Kevin Huerter cannot. The Bulls need Giddey—insane sentence to write a year ago.

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