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The end of the NBA season is fast approaching, and for the first time in seven years, the Detroit Pistons are in prime position to be an actual playoff participant. But their hold on the eighth and final Eastern Conference slot is not quite secure yet.
Stan Van Gundy’s crew holds a fairly solid lead with so few games remaining, but not so comfy that you can start printing the first round stubs quite yet. They lead both Washington and Chicago by 2.5 games with eight dates left on the schedule. The Pistons sit at 39-35, the Wizards and Bulls nipping at their heels with identical 36-37 marks.
But the more important battle might be with the Indiana Pacers. The fightin’ Reggie Millers are currently a mere half-game up on the Pistons. Both have 39 victories, but the Pistons have played one more game and thus one more loss.
As of today, both clubs would obviously qualify for the playoffs, but the major difference would be the Pacers qualifying as a seven-seed and the Pistons registering as the eight. And if you wind up as the #8, you find yourself staring across the table at LeBron James in round one. When you take into account that Mr. James has appeared in the NBA Finals each of the last five seasons, you realize there is virtually no chance of his team being ousted in the tournament’s opening stanza. Long story short, it’s best not to play the Cavs right out of the gate.
If the Pistons were to overtake Indiana and cozy up to #7 in the conference, they’d instead be looking at the Toronto Raptors, a very respectable club with maybe the league’s most dangerous backcourt in Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan; but still, they are the Raptors. Somehow they don’t evoke the same type of fear you might experience when entering a series with LeBron, Kyrie Irving, and the three referees also on hand to ensure the Cavs advance.
So while the Pistons need to first make certain that they qualify and hold off the hard-charging Wizards, Van Gundy would be wise to push his horses to go the extra mile and overtake Indy, too. It could make the difference between a forgettable 4-1 defeat to Cleveland or a possible Game 7 upset north of the border.
The Final Eight
How does the Stones’ schedule look the rest of the way? Not so bad, really.
Kevin Durant and his Thunder invade the Palace tonight. It’s easily the most challenging game the Pistons will face in their final eight.
But then it’s the ho-hum Mavericks, also at home. After that is trio of road affairs with plummeting Chicago, tricky Miam, and the underwhelming Orlando Magic.
The key game will probably be the April 8 home date with Washington; it could have major playoff berth or seeding implications. Then Miami comes to Detroit, and the Pistons finish with a roadie down to Cleveland. That could be the perfect Game #82 opponent for Detroit, as a team like the Cavs is likely to be holding out many of their regulars if they have the top seed clinched by then. They’ve already started going into shut-down mode with a full two weeks of games still on the schedule -- LeBron will sit tonight against Houston for no other reason than to rest.
It can be difficult to assess where the Pistons are right now. On the surface, they look like one the NBA’s hottest clubs, winners of five of their last six. But you peek behind the curtains a little bit, and you see the W’s came against mostly the dregs of the league. Home triumphs over Sacramento, Brooklyn, Milwaukee, and Orlando are nice, but losing a pair at the Palace to a Hawks team that isn’t quite what it used to be throws up caution flags to this Pistons mini-streak.
The key for this team down the stretch and in the postseason will be their willingness to defend. Even in the wins, Van Gundy’s squad presents very little in the way of intensity on the defensive end of the floor. They permit more than 100 points basically every night and have virtually no rim protectors on the roster. Out of 30 NBA teams, the Pistons rank dead last in blocked shots at just three and a half swats per game; all the more reason to get out of that 8-slot and avoid the slashing duo of James and Irving.
Just Need to Get There
However it shakes out, the key for the Pistons is to keep winning the games they are supposed to and lock up the franchise’s first trip to the playoffs since 2009. To say this city is thirsty for playoff basketball understates it. For a long while, it was used to an Eastern Conference Finals appearance every single year -- almost seeming like no big deal to reach the NBA’s version of the Final Four.
But then Chauncey got dealt, Iverson came aboard, Rip got bitter, Tayshaun and Rasheed got old quickly, and it’s been a whole lot of losing ever since. The four-game sweep to Cleveland back in ’09 stands as our last playoff experience, and it would do everyone plenty of good to replace those memories with something new and far less depressing.
There’s a whole lot of discussion surrounding the Red Wings and their quest to make it 25 straight years as Stanley Cup Playoff entrants. They are looking to extend a streak of success; the Pistons are trying to extinguish a run of futility.
This is a franchise steeped in history, with three championships to its name and a host of Hall of Famers that have suited up in the red, white, and blue (and teal). While such heights will almost assuredly not be reached this year, it’s important the ball starts rolling back in the right direction.
The Pistons have eight games left to play in the regular season. Barring a major catastrophe or a Reggie Jackson turned ankle, this team should play meaningful basketball in April for the first time in almost a decade.
And as long as the first opponent is not Cleveland or Middle Tennessee State, the run could even be a little longer than expected.
