The Detroit Pistons get a big boost from Ausar Thompson’s small additions

On January 23, 2025By Littum

HOUSTON – Ausar Thompson had Monday’s date marked on his calendar for months.

It was the Detroit Pistons’ annual trip to Houston to face the Rockets — and Thompson’s third time opposite his twin brother, Amen, since being drafted fifth and fourth overall in 2023, respectively.

However, Ausar’s journey to the game was definitely different compared to last season’s encounters. A blood clot diagnosis in March delayed his 2024-25 season debut by a month, costing him the Pistons’ first game against the Rockets on Nov. 10 at Little Caesars Arena. The NBA cleared him to return a day later, on November 11, and his season debut came two weeks after that, on November 25.

Since his return, Thompson has been a big part of the Pistons’ success. And he helped them snap a two-game losing streak and move back above .500 on Monday with a win over the Rockets — another signature victory for a team that has won 11 of 15 games since Dec. 21.

Monday marked Thompson’s seventh straight start for Detroit; he finished with 11 points and nine rebounds in Houston. (His brother, meanwhile, had 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.) Two months after his debut, Thompson has essentially picked up where he left off as a rookie and proven himself to be an indispensable contributor on offense and defense .

And he was able to achieve a personal milestone by beating his brother for the first time in the NBA.

“He’s not a guy who forces or pushes the issue,” Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff said Monday before the 107-96 victory. “He’s one of those guys who just plays basketball and does basketball. His ability defensively to get stops, block shots, rebound the basketball, as a coach you don’t plan it, you don’t plan it. He just does it naturally.

“Offensively, his ability to push the ball, play, pass, offensive rebound, attack the paint, you don’t have to draw those things up and plan those things. He’s been able to show his natural instincts and I think as time has gone on, now the more complicated things are starting to come to him and that’s a good sign for him and a good sign for us.”

Thompson is averaging 7.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.5 steals in just under 19 minutes per game. match. He has been effective while dealing with a minutes restriction — rarely topping 25 minutes in a game and yet to play more than 27. On Monday, he played 23, while his brother played 40.

Thompson’s game fits his role. He’s the Pistons’ top perimeter defender, one of their best playmakers in transition and a great rebounder for his size. The team is 9-2 in January despite losing Jaden Ivey on New Year’s Day, largely thanks to Thompson.

“(It’s) us just trying to monitor him and keep him as healthy as we can, and honestly some days it’s different,” Bickerstaff said of the minutes restriction. “Sometimes I can look at him and see, OK, he’s fine. Other times I might look at him and think he needs a break. Just depending on the pace of the game – how many breaks, how many stops, free throws – all these things play a role. The timeout situation around that, of course those things affect the length of his stretches. And it’s kind of a gut feeling when you go into the game as well.”

Thompson and his brother have a close – and competitive – relationship. The Rockets won 41 games last season, the Pistons just 14. Amen will remind Ausar that his team’s record was the Pistons’ record in reverse. A year later, the distance between the two teams has shrunk.

The Pistons are now 22-21 and finished eighth in the Eastern Conference playoff race on Monday. The Rockets have been one of the top teams in the Western Conference but have just six more wins, at 28-15, even though the Pistons were 11-17 overall midway through December.

The rivalry between the brothers exists pretty much only on the field. Thompson leaned on Amen while dealing with early-season uncertainty, not knowing when his pending injury status would be resolved. He caught all his games and they often talked directly afterwards.

Was it hard for Thompson to watch Amen play before he himself was cleared?

“No,” Thompson said quickly. “If anything, I had become his biggest fan. We talked a lot, watched a lot of movies. He’s my guy for life, I can’t even explain.”

Despite the difference in minutes Monday, the Pistons’ Thompson nearly tallied a double-double to help them dominate the glass.

He will have to wait until next season to play against his brother again. In the meantime, he will continue to work to ensure that the gap between the Pistons and Rockets is eventually closed for good.

“With the minutes restriction, it’s just going out there and trying to give it my all every time I’m in there,” he said. “Just trust the process, know His plan for me, and one day I’ll get back to it. I want to do all the little things – I want to watch more film, do my minutes more, I don’t know, I just want to say seriously, although there’s a better word for it, and do what I do in the minutes that I sheep.”

Contact Omari Sankofa II at [email protected]. Follow him on X @omarisankofa.