DETROIT — It was obvious Monday’s 125-124 overtime Pistons win over the Miami Heat was the best performance of Ausar Thompson’s young seven-game season.
What wasn’t as apparent was his day leading up to his 19-point, nine-rebound, four-steal outing against Jimmy Butler and the Heat, all of which were season highs.
“You see all of the things that he can do on the floor,” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of Thompson after the win. “As a playmaker, as a rebounder, playing off the catch and attacking the paint. And we know what he’s capable of defensively, so I thought he was really, really good tonight, and I think he’s only going to get better.”
Because of complications with blood clots that ended his rookie season early, the second-year wing made his 2024-25 debut less than a month ago on Nov. 25 in a win over the Toronto Raptors. After Monday’s victory against Miami, Thompson has played in just 70 NBA games.
“Just wanting to challenge myself and push boundaries,” Thompson said of his season-high 27 minutes. “We broke the 20-minute restriction so I don’t know what comes next, but I’m going to be prepared, for sure.”
I tracked Thompson’s day, and confirmed it with him, to get a handle on what his daily routine looks like heading into a home game in Detroit.
After Ausar’s seventh game of the season, he made his second start last night…
He finished the game with 19 PTS | 9 REB | 4 STL | 1 BLK | 8-14 FG pic.twitter.com/3GEOebT1TM— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) December 17, 2024
Daily routine
- 7 a.m. ET: Wake up time. Then, breakfast: eggs, oatmeal and fruit
- 10 a.m.: Closed shootaround at Henry Ford Health Piston Performance Center
- 11-11:45 a.m.: Post-shootaround individual workout — exclusively corner 3s and free throws — with shooting coach Fred Vinson
- 12:30 p.m.: Home for a pregame nap
Pregame routine
- 3:45 p.m.: Returns to Little Caesars Arena
- 4 p.m.: Treatment, then pregame meal
- 4:30-5:10 p.m.: Pregame workout at Little Caesars Arena
- Form shooting: Three makes in five spots around the rim
- Finishing through contact with both hands, starting on left side
- Screen-and-roll as roller with lefty floater
- Ballhandler coming off screen into pull ups, reads and finishing
- Screen and pass into relocation 3
- Corner 3s on left side
- Turns into three made 3s around seven spots on perimeter
- Ends with 10 made 3s on left side
- 50 made free throws and ends with a top-of-the-key 3
- Ballhandling at half court
- Between the legs, behind the back, combination dribbles, behind the back, between his legs
- In-and-out behind the back
- Balance work with medicine ball
- Resistance band work
- Lunges with Hydro Ball
- Resistance band work with band around his waist
- 7:05 p.m.: Pregame introductions
- 7:10 p.m.: Tip-off
GO DEEPER
Can Ausar Thompson help Pistons’ struggling perimeter defense?
Game action
First steal
Thompson took little time to get acclimated, notching his first steal of the evening 17 seconds into action. Duncan Robinson curled around a Bam Adebayo screen, caught a pass in stride from Butler and attempted to throw a lob bass to Adebayo.
In Robinson’s defense, Adebayo was at the time seemingly unguarded, and Thompson was on the opposite block. Thompson literally leaped into action and knocked away Robinson’s pass, starting a transition opportunity for the Pistons.
The 21-year-old wing almost looked too athletic for his own good on the ensuing fast break as he ran by everyone but blew an easy lefty layup. Considering this was Thompson’s seventh game of the season and only his second start this year, we can perhaps attribute his temporary inefficiency to rust.
First made shot
Roughly midway through the first quarter, Thompson cashed in on his first made basket of the night. It came as Cade Cunningham swung the ball to Thompson at the top of key, on the right side the 3-point arc, and Thompson drained his first 3-point attempt after faking a pass to Jalen Duren on the inside.
Robinson played relaxed coverage, with his feet on the free-throw line, while Thompson was roughly five feet away from him on the 3-point line. Robinson’s coverage was understandable given Thompson is shooting 30.8 percent from long range this season, and he is drastically more athletic than Robinson.
The moment warranted a Vinson fist bump from the Pistons sideline. That pride Vinson felt comes from the hours of work he’s put in with Thompson and others as their primary shooting coach. Everything from Thompson’s release to his willingness to shoot the ball despite Robinson’s defense encouraging him likely contributed to Vinson’s joy in that moment.
Athleticism on full display with dunk
Just before halftime, Thompson had what was likely his second-most athletic play of the game. (Delayed explanation on why this ranks second in a bit.) Thompson watched his teammate Simone Fontecchio draw a double-team as he backed into the post, and Thompson intuitively cut to the basket.
Fontecchio made a jump pass and found Thompson in rhythm. Thompson didn’t even need a dribble as he dared Adebayo to elevate with him, though Adebayo wisely declined, and cocked the ball behind his head for a dunk in which he nearly was eye level with the rim.
What made this the second-most athletic play of his performance was the dunk Thompson tried on Dru Smith. Thompson took off from the dotted line just inside the free-throw line and floated in the air until he made contact with Smith, which kept him from completing what would have been the dunk of his season.
This was just the latest installment of Thompson showing flashes of the player those both within and outside of the organization believe he has the potential to become. This version of Thompson could possibly become a key component alongside Cunningham to push Detroit further toward consistently competitive hoops.
(Photo: Brian Sevald / NBAE via Getty Images)
