Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images They did not embrace the Bad Boys by playing tough defense tonight After last night’s blowout win against the Washington Wizards, the Detroit Pistons returned home for their first matchup with the Chicago Bulls. It was also the second game in a row where the Pistons entered as the favored team, with the Bulls entering with a 5-9 record. The Chicago Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons 122-112. Chicago ended up shooting 50% from three (23-for-46) behind Vucevic’s 29 points (6-for-8) and LaVine’s 25 points (7-for-14). Detroit shot 43% from the field and 34% from three. Cade Cunningham had an efficient 26 points, six rebounds, and 10 assists. Guards Tim Hardaway Jr, Malik Beasley, and Jaden Ivey combined to go 12-for-41 (29%) from the field and 6-for-26 (23%) from three. The issue wasn’t scoring, it was a lack fo focus and a lack of defense. This first quarter went a little different than last night’s - Nikola Vucevic, doing his best Malik Beasley impression, hit all three of his three-point shot attempts to lead the Bulls with 13 points. The culprit was bad defense, particularly from Jalen Duren. However, he wasn’t the only player to suffer defensive lapses. The rest of the Bulls team followed along as they went 8-for-10 from deep on their way to scoring their most points in the opening quarter so far this season. The Pistons, shooting 3-for-12 from three, trailed 36-25 after the first after Tobias Harris led the team with eight points. Detroit started the second quarter on a run thanks to threes from Simone Fontecchio, Malik Beasley, Marcus Sasser, and Isaiah Stewart. Stew popped after he set a screen and was wide open in the corner - more of that, please! The Pistons got their deficit back to one with eight minutes left in the second, but they continued to struggle defensively against the Bulls. Chicago scored 29 more points to lead 65-57 at halftime as they had an answer every time Detroit scored. Vucevic led the way, shooting 7-for-10 from the field for 17 points and most of those games from wide-open jump shots. Chicago shot 57% from three after making 12 in the first half. Tobias Harris and Malik Beasley led the Pistons with 10 points each. Cade had nine points, three rebounds, and six assists as he continued his nightly triple-double watch. Detroit shot 47% from the field and 38% from three. A 6-0 run by the Pistons to start the third quarter got the game back within one, but Vucevic was left open for two more wide-open threes that once again extended the lead back for Chicago. For a guy who led their team in points and hit three threes in the first half, it sure seemed like Duren was not engaged enough defensively to keep his eye on Vucevic, especially coming out of halftime. Vuc hit his season-high fifth three with 8:24 still left in the third quarter. Isaiah Stewart didn’t get subbed in until 4:36 remained in the third, and that was way too late. Duren was caught guarding no one underneath the basket when he left Vucevic WIDE OPEN for his third three of the quarter and his 28th point of the night. When you have Paul Reed as depth, I wouldn’t mind JBB having a shorter leash on the rotation to bring in somebody you know can be present defensively. Every time the Pistons got close to reclaiming the lead, a blunder on defense let the Bulls back in it. They did not make up any ground in the third quarter as they were still down eight 93-85 with one quarter to go. A Ron Holland steal and transition dunk to open up the fourth put a jolt of energy into the crowd that had been missing all game. A Cade Cunningham iso on Josh Giddey resulted in an and-one layup that tied the game at 95 with 8:46 left. As was the norm for this game, the Pistons defended poorly to hand the lead back to Chicago - Zach LaVine hit back-to-back-to-back threes on three straight possessions to extend the lead to 11 with 5:45 left. LaVine hit his fourth three of the quarter over Tobias Harris and it had no business going in, but it did - and that was just the kind of game it was for the Pistons tonight. It always felt like the game was winnable, but they also did nothing to prevent Chicago from taking the lead back whenever they wanted it. After the Bulls hit three straight threes from Zach LaVine and Coby White, the game was out of reach with two minutes left - yes, LaVine hit six threes in the fourth quarter. In a game where there was no defense and a lot of threes, this game went to the team who hit more of them. Unfortunately for the Pistons, they looked gassed as they just finished their fifth game in seven nights. They’ll get two days of rest for the first time this season as they next play on Thursday night against the Hornets in Charlotte.