The Cleveland Cavaliers almost made it four wins in a row on Sunday at home against the East-leading Detroit Pistons. Donovan Mitchell and Co. surged late but ultimately were too worn down to complete a fourth-quarter comeback.
Of course, physically wearing you down is one of the main ways that Detroit beats you this year. Sure, the Pistons have an All-NBA talent in Cade Cunningham to put the ball in the bucket and control the game offensively, but it's their hard-nose defense that wins games.
This all makes sense within the context of the Pistons' history. Whether it was the Bad Boy Pistons of the late 1980s or the Ben Wallace-led Pistons defense of the mid-2000s, winning big in Detroit has always been delivered by gritty defense.
The Pistons are physical again. LeBron James said it himself just before the turn of the New Year. After falling to the Pistons on December 30 (LeBron's 41st birthday), James said, "It's that Detroit feeling again."
Amidst the Pistons' success, critics of their physical style have not surprisingly emerged. Their question is, does Detroit's rough-and-tumble defense violate the rules? This is a valid inquiry, and it's not to suggest that Jalen Duren is going to start throwing Bill Laimbeer-style right hooks. It's just that it's starting to feel like the Pistons get away with a lot of fouling on defense.
Cavaliers coach just hinted the Pistons have Thunder-esque advantage on defense
The Pistons foul on every possession, it’s pretty hilarious.
— Mike Jones (@MikeJonesScout) December 31, 2025
Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson wasn't afraid to complain about Detroit's fouling during Sunday's postgame press conference (although Atkinson did thinly veil the complaint by surrounding it with praise for the Pistons).
"Their physicality hurt us," Atkinson said. "They got their hands on you. They're handsy. I felt like we had a tough time getting an advantage tonight. And credit to them -- they guard the heck out of the ball. They're physical as heck in pick and roll."
Translation: Detroit got away with fouling us constantly, which was an unfair situation that allowed them to win the game.
While Atkinson isn't wrong, here's the kicker about Detroit's handsy strategy: It's not as much a reflection of the Pistons' history as it is a copycat act of a current NBA team that's found maximum success recently. Yes, we're talking about the Oklahoma City Thunder.
If you closed your eyes and imagined that Atkinson was talking about the Thunder here, and not the Pistons, it would still work. NBA officials have been criticized constantly over the past year or two for allegedly allowing OKC to defend while fouling. What makes the accusations even spicier is that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gets such a friendly whistle on the other end.
The apex of these accusations happened in February of 2025, when Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch blatantly spelled out the problem in a postgame presser of his own.
"It's so frustrating to play this team because they foul a ton, " Finch said. "They foul all the time. And then you can't really touch Shai. And it's a very frustrating thing."
The Thunder were 46-11 at that time (after an overtime loss to Finch's Wolves that night) and about four months away from hoisting their first Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Fast forward to now, and the Pistons are 26-9 with first-place bragging rights in the Eastern Conference.
Is Detroit taking a page directly out of OKC's book with this foul-heavy defense, knowing how NBA officiating works? It's something to think about. Maybe Atkinson will be telling his players at the next practice to start getting a little more "handsy" themselves.