What the Pistons are accomplishing this season isn’t unprecedented, but it’s close enough to be labeled historic.
If the Pistons merely split their final dozen games, they will have displayed the seventh best season-to-season improvement, in terms of victories, in NBA history. At 7-5, they'd be tied for No. 6, and at 8-4 tied for fifth. A record of 9-3 would net No. 5 alone.
This is the 79th NBA season.
The Pistons aren’t just a nice little story as widely portrayed. It’s a phenomenal tale of an uprising unforeseen. Detroit could finish as high as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
That would mean home-court advantage in the first round. It was, after winning just 17 and 14 games the previous two seasons, unimagined.
Can the world quit saying Cade Cunningham is 'going to be a star?' He IS a star, who belongs on one of three postseason All-NBA squads, likely as high as second-team.
But the Pistons aren’t just about their star, or even the overall athleticism of their young players, which is considerable. It’s how the team fits together.
Jalen Duran is a fierce rebounder, works in perfect conjunction with Cunningham in the pick-and-roll game and is an improving rim protector. Ausar Thompson is a defensive menace and a unique slasher to the basket. It’s difficult to believe the Pistons landed Malik Beasley, their brilliant three-point shooter, with a one-year, $6 million free agent contract, but they did.
It points to the wisdom of general manager Trajan Langdon. Veterans Beasley, Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr. present a perfect mix for first-year coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who has completely changed the culture of the team.
The Pistons’ floor spacing is noticeably better, and most importantly, their defensive presence has soared. They are 14th in the NBA in points allowed per game compared to 26th last season.
There’s been so much whining about the NBA in this town. Repeatedly you’d hear the league was unwatchable. It wasn’t true. The Pistons were just bad.
After more than a decade of playing the game the wrong way, the Pistons play it right. They fit with defined roles. They don’t back down to opponents and play as a unit in a league where a lot of teams simply don’t.
That cohesion keeps getting stronger, which explains their strength on the road. At 21-15, the Pistons are tied for the NBA’s fourth-best road record, which suggests they could be a tough out in the playoffs.
This is a compelling team that not only plays a winning brand of basketball, but is exciting, too.
The Pistons are anything but unwatchable these days. Must-see is more like it.