I don’t think any fan of the Detroit Pistons expected that this team would sit at No.2 in the East right now. We just had a big win against the Boston Celtics who are currently have the NBA’s best record. With a constant juggernaut in the Cleveland Cavaliers, you would think that they would still be dominating the East with King James on their team. They faced a lot of early chemistry issues and figuring of roles that led to them stumbling out of the gate. Now they’re hitting a stride and playing like a team that has made three straight NBA Finals. That’s with their starting point guard out as well.
The Pistons sit only behind the Celtics in the Eastern Conference. We’re a top 4 seed in the entire NBA that includes Boston (18-4) at No.1, Houston (16-4) at No.2, Golden State (15-6) at No.3 and Detroit (13-6) at No.4. The Pistons have had nine games against last season’s playoff teams. They’ve played the Milwaukee Bucks twice, Indiana Pacers twice, Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Boston Celtics. We lost the game against the Cavaliers which could’ve really put the league on notice. LeBron even spoke to reporters after the game and his words only signaled to the doubters that the Pistons are legit and a team that he used that game to measure where his Cavaliers stand. We then beat the very good Celtics team which has awarded us praise from analysts in many corners of the media.
This all leads us to wonder, where do the Pistons really stand in the Eastern Conference? It would be a disservice to ignore the efforts and team play that have helped us to have the No.2 seed. We were actually the No.1 seed in the east before the Celtics went on a 16-game winning streak. So we could honestly be the real No.1 seed in the Eastern Conference. We just took our bumps a little earlier from teams we’ve also beaten and have yet to hit our stride that will result in a big win streak of our own. The Celtics completed theirs, the Cavaliers are currently on a streak, and when the time comes for us it could easily put us over the top in the east.
With Andre Drummond playing the best basketball we’ve seen him play in 2 seasons and showing maturity, Tobias Harris being the go-to scorer we’ve always craved for in Detroit, Avery Bradley and Stanley Johnson bringing it every night on the defensive end, and complete team play from everyone including Reggie Jackson, we could prove to be so good that we could make the NBA Eastern Conference Finals. We’ve got a veteran coach, enough experienced players, enough room for growth with moves made during the offseason, and enough youth to be a dark horse in the playoffs. Don’t sleep.
The Detroit Pistons next game comes against the Phoenix Suns November 29th @ 7 PM.
