Detroit went into action on Wednesday looking to eclipse their franchise mark at the expense of their long time rivals, the Boston Celtics. Lucky 13 for the Pistons came on Monday against the second-worst team in the NBA, the Indiana Pacers.
If the Pacers can go from Game 7 of the NBA Finals back in June, to the cellar of the Eastern Conference, after the 1-win Washington Wizards picked up win #2 on Tuesday, the Pistons surely have hopes of maintaining their Eastern Conference best record, which sat at 15-2.
Chicago came out of the chute hot, but are 3-7 in their last 10 games, to stand at 9-8. Cleveland, many thought to be the team to beat in the East after the year-long injury to Boston forward Jayson Tatum, are sitting at 12-6, and ravaged by injuries to key components like Darius Garland and Max Strus.
For Detroit, a boost to their lineup came along when Jaden Ivey saw his first action of the season on Saturday against Milwaukee. After missing 10 months with a broken left fibula, and undergoing two surgeries, Ivey scored 10 points, had two assists and a steal in 15 minutes off the bench. The return of Ivey should certainly aid in Cunningham being able to rest for longer periods, and allow the flexibility that head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has shown with his rotations during the regular season. Bickerstaff has been known to routinely use 9-10 players through his time with Cleveland and Detroit, which has been a strong enough formula to finish in the top 10 in Coach of the Year voting since 2022. Last season, Bickerstaff finished second to the man who replaced him in Cleveland, Kenny Atkinson.
Cunningham is already averaging over 25 points per game (28.1 as of Thursday), but the Pistons fell to the Celtics in the key matchup 117-114. The All Star had 42 points, but missed a key free throw in the final seconds that would have tied the game. Two seasons ago, Detroit lost an NBA-record 28 straight regular season games, a season that saw Cunningham return from surgery to repair a stress fracture in his leg the year before.
Keep that losing streak in mind. The Pistons lost 59 games in 2021-22, 65 in 2022-23, and 68 during the record losing streak campaign. Bickerstaff joins after being dismissed from back-to-back seasons of early playoff departures in Cleveland, then guides Detroit to 48 wins last season. The New York Knicks eliminated Detroit four games to two in the first round, their first winning season since 2016, and their first playoff appearance since 2019. Detroit was able to secure a top-six seed after a 30-20 record once the calendar changed over to 2025. Despite a 2-5 April, the Pistons and Knicks engaged in a highly entertaining series, where the largest margin of victory by either team were the Knicks winning Game One by 11 (123-112). The remaining five games were decided by 6, 2, 1, 3, and 3 respectively.
The loss trimmed Detroit’s lead in the Central Division over Cleveland to 3.5 games, whose 21-point win marks the Pistons largest final score margin as we near the quarter pole of this season. As if anyone pays attention, the loss to Boston dropped Detroit behind Orlando in Group B of the NBA Cup, a concept almost as stupid as trying to put NHL hockey in Arizona.
Everyone predicts that Cleveland and New York would be the two teams to challenge Oklahoma City in the Finals next June. However, Detroit is young and hungry enough to sustain enough pressure to host a playoff series next spring.
The biggest difference with Detroit is Cunningham’s star power is something the franchise has not seen to this caliber since the Bad Boy years. The 2004 championship roster was filled with very good players, including future Hall of Famers Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups, but neither came in with the same level of fanfare as when Cunningham was drafted first overall in 2021.
-JC24