Monty Williams has played rookie guard Marcus Sasser more than he anticipated he would have to this season. There’s some irony in that considering Sasser hasn’t played much, relative to his teammates.

The Detroit Pistons' 25th pick of the 2023 draft has only missed four games this season, but Monday was just his sixth time playing at least 25 minutes, and his first time doing so since Nov. 19. As the team has gotten healthier and Detroit’s backcourt depth has improved, Sasser’s opportunities have dried up. Three of his four “Did Not Play’s” have been since Christmas.

He's had to wait his turn.

His 23-point performance in a 122-113 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday was one of the best games of his short career, and a reminder as to why the team prioritized him in last year’s draft. With Cade Cunningham still out with a left knee strain, Sasser stepped up as a scorer and defender and helped the Pistons go toe-to-toe with an Eastern Conference contender led by two future Hall of Famers in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.

He and Isaiah Stewart (19 points, eight rebounds, five blocks) led the Pistons on a night where Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren and Alec Burks combined to shoot 13-for-40 (32.5%) from the floor.

ON GUARD: Jaden Ivey needs the ball in his hands, even when Cade Cunningham returns

“His ability to mix it up on defense in the first half, he stuck his nose in there on the bottom weakside where he was the smallest person on the floor, and he came up with a steal,” Williams said about Sasser after the game. “Just giving up his body to take away their dive. And then offensively, he just does what Sass does. He’s fearless. He’s not gonna run from a shot. Sometimes I don’t know it’s coming, but I know he’s trying to score and he has good intentions.

"His speed is just different. When he gets to the paint, he can finish with his floater or with his finishes around the rim. I just thought he played with great intensity tonight. I thought he played downhill, and not many people can stay in front of him.”

Sasser got rolling early, scoring 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting in fewer than 10 first-half minutes. He exploited Milwaukee’s drop defense, hitting pull-up jumpers from midrange and floaters right over Brook Lopez’ outstretched arm.

He maintained that pressure in the second half, closing the third quarter with a three-point play and a pair of free throws to cut Detroit’s deficit to four. A Euro step layup with 9:25 remaining in the game gave Detroit its first lead of the second half, 97-96. Another floater gave the Pistons a two-point lead, 109-107, with 5:52 to go.

“Just having the right mindset,” Sasser said of staying ready for the moment. “Coming in and being aggressive on both ends of the ball. Trying to impact the game on defense, and really let my game on offense come. Use my teammates. I feel like they did a good job getting me open, to my spots. Lots of credit to them.”

By the middle of the fourth quarter, Sasser had 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting. He would only make one of his next four shots from that point on, during a game-closing 15-4 Bucks run in which the Pistons missed five straight 3-pointers.

Sasser is already one of Detroit’s best players at creating his own shot. He has shown an ability to heat up several times this season, including a breakout game against the Bucks in November where he scored a career-high 26 points on 11-for-17 shooting. But as Monday’s finish showed, he’s still a rookie. While he had the hot hand early, he took 10 shots in the final period — nearly half of the team’s 22 attempts.

Williams is still trying different lineup combinations while navigating injuries and losses. He sees Alec Burks as a good compliment to Sasser, being a quick-trigger veteran shooter who can take pressure off of him offensively and stay in his ear. They closed the game together on Monday. Sasser agrees that Burks’ shooting provides needed spacing to help him attack the rim.

“AB is really good for him,” Williams said. “That combination has been good for us because AB knows how to get him play calls and settle him down. He would admit that AB is a great help for him when he’s on the floor.”

The Pistons are still figuring out the right combination to close out wins, though. In consecutive games, Milwaukee outscored Detroit down the stretch to pull away with a win in a back-and-forth game. At 4-39 overall, there’s value in the team simply competing against a championship favorite. Yet, the sloppy finishes in the final 6 minutes of games have cost them several wins.

“It’s just the last 5-to-6 minutes, we just stop making winning plays,” Sasser said. “Gave up too many offensive rebounds, gave them too many second chance points. Really just not executing on the offensive end down the stretch.”

With two home games this week against two fellow bottom-dwellers — the 10-31 Charlotte Hornets and 7-35 Washington Wizards — the Pistons have an opportunity to apply the lessons learned from Monday’s loss.

Cunningham is expected to return this week, leaving Sasser’s status in the rotation up in the air. His head-turning performance against Milwaukee shows how he’s been patient this season, Isaiah Stewart said. Someday, Sasser and the Pistons both expect the patience to pay off.

“Just staying with it,” Stewart said. “I tip my hat off to him, because as a rook some games you may play, some games you may not. For him to mentally still be there and stay locked in, that just goes to show a lot.”

Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him @omarisankofa.

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Next up: Hornets

Matchup: Pistons (4-39) vs. Charlotte (10-31).

Tipoff: 7 p.m. Wednesday; Little Caesars Arena, Detroit.

TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit; WXYT-FM (97.1).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Marcus Sasser shows world why Detroit Pistons traded up to draft him