CHICAGO — With three minutes remaining in Sunday’s third quarter, the Chicago Bulls waved the white flag. Zach LaVine and Patrick Beverley substituted out of the game, joining the rest of the starters. With their play-in berth already secured, it was time for them to wind down.
The Bulls’ bench unit outscored the Detroit Pistons’ starters the rest of the way at United Center, though, sending the Pistons to a fitting conclusion: a 103-81 loss, thanks to a 34-11 Bulls run that started at the end of the third quarter.
Pistons coach Dwane Casey announced postgame he is leaving the bench and joining the Detroit’s front office under general manager Troy Weaver.
“It’s been a good 44 years,” Casey said. “Tom (Gores) is giving me an opportunity to move into the front office to work with Troy.
“It’s best for myself, my family and the organization,” he said and noted the team could use a new voice after three years of the rebuild and five with him as coach. “I’m excited for what we’ve done, the culture and foundation that we’ve built.”
Casey ends his tenure with a record of 121-263, and one playoff appearance in 2018-19, his first season after coming over from Toronto.
The Pistons finish the season 17-65, worst in the NBA and second-worst in franchise history. They lost 23 of their final 25 games, and can now look forward to an offseason that will feature a top-five pick and ample cap space to position the roster for an improvement next season.
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Killian Hayes led the Pistons with 26 points, eight rebounds and seven assists vs. the Bulls. Jaden Ivey (16 points, 7-for-20 shooting), Marvin Bagley III (12 points) and James Wiseman (11 points) also reached double figures, and Jalen Duren grabbed 18 rebounds. Detroit shot 36.5% overall, 27.3% from 3 and tied a season-high with 24 turnovers: six from Duren, five each from Hayes and Ivey, four from Wiseman.
Pistons limp to finish line
Detroit had eight players on their injury report Sunday: Cade Cunningham, Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, Isaiah Stewart, Isaiah Livers, Hamidou Diallo, Rodney McGruder and Eugene Omoruyi.
While the Pistons’ season was doomed after Cunningham’s season-ending surgery in December, the long list of injuries were a significant factor in the awful final few months.
They finished four games behind the 21-win San Antonio Spurs to clinch the NBA’s worst record and five behind the 22-win Houston Rockets. All three teams will have a 14% chance to win the draft lottery May 16, and the Pistons can fall no further than the fifth pick.
Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @omarisankofa.