Pistons looking for key NBA Cup win vs. surging Bucks

The NBA in-season tournament may not mean much to perennial contenders, but the Detroit Pistons look at it as a major event.The Pistons are 3-0 in the NBA Cup and can win Group B by defeating Milwaukee in Detroit on Tuesday night. The Bucks are also undefeated in group play.The Pistons rolled to a 130-106 road win over Indiana on Friday for their third win in the tournament.”The sense of urgency is high for sure,” guard Cade Cunningham said. “We need every game we can get anyways, but I remember last year, Indiana ran it up on us in the in-season tournament and how serious they took it. They were going for points, they just beat us up. This game was really personal for us, but in general, we all wanna go to Vegas and we all want to experience winning something. We’re going for it.”The Pistons have already defeated Miami and Toronto in NBA Cup matchups. The winner of Tuesday’s contest will host a quarterfinal game.”Our guys wanted to win,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of Detroit’s win over the Pacers. “They came out with a sense of urgency. We talked about it, but this gives our guys an opportunity to play games of significance and see how they respond. I thought our guys did a great job of responding in a positive way, playing with that sense of urgency that you need to play with to win games of significance.”However, Detroit played the following evening and lost at home to Philadelphia, 111-96. Cunningham sat out with a hip injury that previously cost him three games, but he’s expected to play on Tuesday.Bickerstaff partially blamed the defeat on travel issues.”Our guys were exhausted,” he said. “We sat on the runway (Friday) night until 2:30, 3 o’clock in the morning, got home at 4 o’clock in the morning in a snowstorm. Drove home. By the time they got to bed it was 5, 5:30.”The Bucks have won six in a row, including a 124-114 victory over Washington on Saturday in which Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 42 points and had 12 rebounds and 11 assists.

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