However, the game came against the Milwaukee Bucks, who have owned the Pistons over the previous three seasons. The Bucks maintained their dominance, sending the Pistons to a 128-107 loss. Detroit suffered its 11th straight loss to the Bucks (11-9) and was eliminated from the In-Season Tournament, as the Bucks won East Group B.

Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said postgame that his team was “exhausted” because of travel delays and that they played an NBA Cup game the night before. Since its inception a year ago, the NBA Cup has bred a different sense of urgency from players, especially considering each of them on the winning team earned $500,000 last season.

Cade Cunningham and the Pistons took a beatdown on Tuesday. Despite playing meaningful basketball for the first time in years, there wasn’t much for the Pistons to feel good abo