The NBA’s Eastern Conference playoff race, aside from the top two seeds, has been competitive all season long. Even now, only four games separate the fourth place Miami Heat from the tenth place Washington Wizards. But one team has a chance to make more noise in the playoffs than any of the other potential low seeds in the conference.
Currently tied with the Indiana Pacers for eighth place, the Detroit Pistons are the most dangerous potential first round underdog in the East. The Pistons have won four straight games – including an impressive victory over the first place Cavs in Cleveland, and another at the Palace in Auburn Hills over the second place Toronto Raptors. The streak started shortly after acquiring combo forward Tobias Harris from the Orlando Magic in exchange for guard Brandon Jennings and power forward Ersan Ilyasova. The trade has propelled the Pistons into a prime position to upset a higher seeded team in the first round of the playoffs.
Danger of the Detroit Pistons Playoffs Match-up
Even before the Harris trade, the Pistons were already a scary group to meet in a playoff series for most East teams. Head coach and team president Stan Van Gundy has built a new version of his late 2000s Orlando teams, surrounding pick-and-rolls between Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond with shooters. Shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has done a stellar job this season, scoring a career best 14.4 points per game, while defending elite guards and wings. Van Gundy traded next to nothing for Marcus Morris, and while the move created chaos in Phoenix because of the antics of Morris’ brother, Morris has been excellent shooting the ball and creating his own offense for the Pistons. Before he was traded, Ilyasova was filling his role as well, spotting up as a stretch four next to the Jackson-Drummond action. Van Gundy succeeded in surrounding Drummond with several shooters and playmakers, just like his former bosses did for Dwight Howard in Orlando.
But the most frightening thing of all about Detroit, even before the trade, was that the Pistons were built for the playoffs. Before the trade, they played their starters a ton, and utilized few bench players – which teams tend to do in the playoffs anyway. Besides the aforementioned starters, only Jennings, rookie Stanley Johnson, and Anthony Tolliver averaged more than 18 minutes per game. For context, the Pacers – with an equal record to Detroit – have nine players averaging more than 21 minutes per game.
With their short rotation, it will be hard for the Pistons’ opponent to exploit certain players in a playoff match-up, because no player in Detroit’s rotation is a liability on either end of the floor. Now, with Harris in the lineup, that idea applies more than ever – the Pistons lost two of their eight rotation players in Jennings and Ilyasova, leaving them with only seven regular rotation players, along with Steve Blake and Aron Baynes to use on occasion. Detroit now has a loaded starting lineup, with the NBA’s leading rebounder in Drummond, an excellent playmaker in Jackson, one on one shot creators in Harris and Morris, and shooting all over the place. Every rotation player can at least compete on defense.
The Pistons have the versatility to switch screens between the wings and power forward position, especially when Johnson, Harris, and Morris all share the floor. All of this adds up to a top ten defense for the Pistons, in terms of points allowed per possession. In the playoffs, defense is crucial, as the pace slows and refs choose to swallow their whistles. In a best of seven series, it’s crucial to be able to adjust to the style of any potential opponent; Detroit is more suited to do so than any other potential low seed in the East.
If there’s one major reason that the Pistons wouldn’t win a playoff series – besides the fact that they’ll have to fight just to make the postseason – it’s that this is still a very young team. The inexperience across the roster, besides Baynes and Blake, may be Detroit’s biggest problem. But it’s not like the Pistons would be the first young team to go on the road and win a playoff series; just look at the 2012-13 Warriors or the 2013-14 Wizards.
Whether or not Detroit can pull off a first round upset is up for debate. But take this, coming from a Toronto Raptors fan: with the Raptors likely securing a top two seed in the East, I’m hoping they stay far, far away from the Pistons in the postseason. And that says it all, when it comes to the Detroit Pistons.
