The Detroit Pistons are the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. As one of the title favorites, they shouldn't be too worried about their first-round opponent.
While that is true, it's also fine to have preferences about who you would want to face in the playoffs. The easier your early-round opponents are, the fresher you can stay as the team moves deeper into the postseason. This is especially true for a team like the Pistons that is still learning playoff basketball on the fly after getting a taste of the postseason in 2024-25. It's better to feel the playoff jitters early against a lesser opponent than against a team with upset potential.
That is why the Pistons should hope to avoid the Charlotte Hornets in the first round. Compared to their other potential opponents, the Heat, Magic, and Sixers, the Pistons would be significantly more challenged by the Hornets and their young core of players looking to make a name for themselves on the league's biggest stage.
This may seem counterintuitive since the Pistons swept the season series against the Hornets, but Charlotte would easily present the toughest challenge to the East leaders.
Pistons Fans Should Root Against the Hornets in the Play-In Tournament
First, there is an added tension between the two sides after the big brawl in their midseason matchup. Four players, including Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, were suspended for multiple games after that clash. On Friday, the two teams met again, and they didn't even exchange customary handshakes after the game.
While it would be fun to have this added drama in a playoff series, the Pistons need to stay focused on the task at hand. Off-court distractions would only hurt the favorite, and there is no need to provide extra motivation to the underdogs.
Secondly, for most of the season, the Hornets have been a much better team than the rest of the field. In the second half of the season, Charlotte was the second-best team in the league with a +10.9 net rating, per Cleaning the Glass. They went 29-12 and had the second-best offensive rating in the NBA.
The Hornets had the best starting lineup in the entire league for the season. The LaMelo Ball-Kon Knueppel-Brandon Miller-Miles Bridges-Moussa Diabate lineup outscored the opponents by an incredible 27.4 points per 100 possessions. This lineup played over 1,000 possessions and finished the season as one of the best five-man groups of all time in terms of net rating.
Over the last three months, the Hornets have been playing at a level well above the ninth seed. Their offensive ceiling is one of the highest in the league. They have reached levels that the Heat, Magic, and the Sixers haven't sniffed all year.
To face the Pistons in the first round, the Hornets have to win two games in a row: first at home against the Heat, then one of Philly or Orlando on the road. Detroit will be favored in a series against the Hornets regardless, but Pistons fans would be wise to root against them in the Play-In Tournament, just to be safe.
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