NBA Game Preview - Detroit at Chicago

Fri Nov 1, 2019 8:00 PM EDT

The Chicago Bulls will try to snap a three-game losing streak when they host the Detroit Pistons on Friday night.

Someone who hopes to prevent that from happening is one of Chicago's native sons: Derrick Rose.

The 31-year-old Rose is off to a fast start in his first season in Detroit. He is averaging 20.4 points and 6.2 assists in five games off the bench, and he is shooting a terrific 55.3 percent from the field.

It's the latest step in a remarkable turnaround for Rose, who shined in Chicago before a series of knee injuries decimated his progress. He won the NBA's Most Valuable Player award during the 2010-11 season, but by 2016, the Bulls shipped him to the New York Knicks in a deal that yielded Robin Lopez, Jerian Grant and Jose Calderon.

Expect Rose to be met by an appreciative crowd of Bulls fans -- not to mention a grateful group of Pistons players.

"We trust Derrick," Pistons guard Luke Kennard told reporters after Rose made what proved to be a game-winning layup in the final minute to help beat the Indiana Pacers earlier this week. "He's become one of our leaders.

"Down the stretch, he's been in situations like that before. He knows how to kind of take over a game. We put the ball in his hands, we ran plays for him, obviously he delivered for us. We trust him in any situation. We believe he'll do what it takes to win."

Meanwhile, the Bulls are desperate for someone on their roster to lead them to any win.

Chicago has lost three games in a row and four out of five to start the season. The Bulls' latest setback came Wednesday night when they fell short 117-111 to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Bulls have scored 105.6 points per game this season but have given up a whopping 111.6 points on defense.

"We haven't played as well in key moments as I've hoped, and they've hoped," Bulls coach Jim Boylen said.

Veteran forward Thaddeus Young said the Bulls' breakdowns could be fixed.

"Everything we're doing hasn't translated to wins, but we're just going through the process and guys are getting better each and every day," Young said. "And we are yet to have a game where we have our two best players both play well. It's either Zach (LaVine) is playing well and Lauri (Markkanen) is not, or Lauri's playing well and Zach's not. So we have to figure out how to get those two playing well, get them going early, and keep them going through the course of the game.

"And then if we all fill in the gaps and holes, we can be a very good team. We just have to go out there and believe it each and every night, and make sure we go out there and finish executing in games."

The Pistons also are looking for better defense. They have scored 107.8 points per game and given up 112.6 points, which ranks two spots behind Chicago at 19th in the league (entering Thursday's games).

--Field Level Media