Detroit Pistons on the Verge of Clinching a Playoff Spot
With just four games remaining in the regular season, the Detroit Pistons are on the verge of clinching a playoff spot.
Despite the loss in Miami on Tuesday night, and their record falling to 41-37, the Detroit Pistons are hanging on to their two-game lead over the Chicago Bulls. The magic number to clinch a playoff spot has been reduced to two games.
If the season would end today, the Detroit Pistons would be the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, good enough to match up against LeBron James and his 56-22 Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs.
Clinching the playoffs would be the first time the Pistons did so since the ’08-’09 season, when their roster was highlighted by players like Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Chauncey Billups, and Rasheed Wallace– all who were apart of the magical 2004 title run.
After six straight seasons of missing the playoffs, the Pistons seem to be back to their winning ways.
Second year coach Stan Van Gundy has completely turned around a team that won 29 games the year before he arrived. In 2014, his first season, the Pistons went 32-50. Nothing to drool over, but certainly a step in the right direction.
With four games left, Van Gundy and the Pistons have already passed last season’s win total. Their 41 wins make it the most since they won 59 in the ’07-’08 season.
Van Gundy, who is also the president of basketball operations, has been responsible for bringing talent to the Motor City. He acquired Reggie Jackson from the Thunder in February of 2015, Marcus Morris from the Suns five months later, and the most recent swap: acquiring Tobias Harris from the Magic just two months ago.
Jackson and Harris, both starters, are a part of the youthful starting five the Pistons put on the floor every night.
Jackson (25), Harris (23), Andre Drummond (22), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (23), and Stanley Johnson (19) may lack in postseason experience, but it does not seem to be slowing them down.
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They have defeated the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Portland Trail Blazers this season. Age doesn’t matter, but what does matter is the fact that the Pistons can play with the big boys.
It doesn’t hurt that they have one of the best young centers in the game with Andre Drummond. His 2016 campaign has consisted of him leading the league in double-doubles and rebounds per game with 65 and 14.9.
The likely first round matchup against the Cavaliers bodes well for the Pistons, as they are 2-1 this season against the best team in the East.
The Pistons will finish the last four games of the season in Orlando, at home to host the Wizards and Heat, and then will travel to play Game 82 in Cleveland against the Cavs.
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The mastermind of Stan Van Gundy and the youthful talent the Pistons possess sets them up nicely as they gear up for postseason basketball. Is a deep run in the playoffs on the horizon for the Pistons?