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10 ways to commemorate the Detroit Pistons miraculous turnaround season
The
Detroit Pistons have 10 games remaining in the regular season. There is still a question of what seed they will be when the postseason arrives, but they’ve already secured a spot in at least the play-in tournament. The sixth-seeded Pistons also have a 4.5-game lead over the seventh-seeded Hawks. They trail the
Milwaukee Bucks by a half-game for the fifth seed and are 2.5 games behind the fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers.
They still have plenty to play for, but even beyond seeding, there are several milestones that could fall as the team’s best season in years comes to a close. I have compiled those feats into a fun and SEO-friendly list.
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1. A winning record
The Pistons will officially finish the season above .500 for the first time since 2015-16 with just two additional wins in the final 10 games. They have just three games remaining against teams with sub-.500 records, including tonight’s matchup against the
San Antonio Spurs. That could slide to two by the time the team faces the Sacramento Kings on April 7, who have a 35-26 record of of March 25.
2. Best record since the Flip Saunders era
If the Pistons manage to eke out five wins in the last 10, Detroit will secure their best regular season win total since all the way back in 2007-08. That season, the 59-23 Pistons made their sixth consecutive Eastern Conference Finals trip and fell to the eventual NBA champion
Boston Celtics. That Celtics team was coached by Doc Rivers, who currently coaches the Bucks team Detroit is battling with for the fifth seed. To put in perspective how long ago this was, current Pistons rookie Ron Holland was not even 3 years old the last time the Pistons had at least 45 wins.
3. Lead NBA in fast break points for the first time ever*
The Detroit Pistons are winning behind their defense, yes, but they are also winning in a way that is completely unfamiliar with Detroit’s most recent era of winning basketball — they are getting out and running. The Pistons are second in fast break points per 100 possessions, trailing only the Denver Nuggets. Detroit is averaging 19 points on the break per 100 possessions compared to Denver’s 19.6 points. Detroit is already a lock to have its best fast break season since *the league started tracking data in 1996. Their previous best was in 1999-00, when they scored 16.8 points per 100.
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4. Have the league’s best 3-point shooter
One of the most interesting individual races in the season’s final 10 games for Pistons fans will be whether Malik Beasley can hold off Anthony Edwards as the top 3-point shooter in the NBA this season. Beasley currently leads the NBA with 281 made threes, which is two ahead of Edwards. It should also be noted, of course, that Beasley is doing it in 50 fewer attempts and 600 fewer minutes than Edwards. Beasley has already eclipsed the all-time franchise record for threes set by Saddiq Bey in 2021-22 by 70. The last time the Pistons had an excellent 3-point shooter was 1995-96 when Allen Houston was wearing the red, white, and blue. That season, he made 191 threes (it was a different time), ranking fifth in the NBA and 77 behind season leader Dennis Scott.
5. Protect the paint better than in the Going to Work era
Let’s talk a bit about how the game has changed. The Pistons excelled in a previous era that emphasized defense and didn’t prioritize offensive efficiency. That meant they were dominating teams, but that those teams (and the Pistons themselves) were happy to take a ton of mid-range shots and to go into the paint and hunt for inefficient post-up opportunities. Those days are over. The post game is mostly a thing of the past, and teams have abandoned the mid-range for an emphasis on threes and shots at the rim. THAT BEING SAID, the Pistons currently rank second in the NBA in opponent points in the paint. They have allowed 45.5 points per 100 possessions, which trails only OKC’s 42.6 points mark. Detroit never finished among the league’s best in sealing off the paint during the Going to Work era. JB Bickerstaff has truly worked miracles.
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6. A Piston making the All-NBA Second Team
The Pistons have been dreadful for a while, and even when they were good, they never relied on any players with superstar status. Accordingly, the Pistons have not been well-represented on the All-NBA or MVP ballots over the years. Most recently, Blake Griffin was honored for his truly great season in 2018-19 with an All-NBA third-team spot. Prior to that, Andre Drummond made the third team in 2015-16 because, well, they needed a center, and he was pretty good. If you’re wondering the last time a Pistons player made the second team or better, you have to reach back to 2005-06 when both Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups made second-team. A first-team All-NBA player hasn’t worn a Pistons uniform since Grant Hill in 1995-96, and prior to that, it hadn’t been done since Isiah Thomas in 1985-86. With a strong finish to the season, Cade Cunningham has the chance to make the second team this year. He’s currently fighting it out with the likes of Steph Curry, Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, and Donovan Mitchell for that honor. Perhaps next year, Cade will take another step and secure a first-team spot for the Pistons for the first time in 40 years. But this year, second-team would be a great and deserved honor.
7. Have the league’s most prolific dunker
Jalen Duren is having a breakout campaign. He’s taken an important step as a defender this season in Bickerstaff’s system, and he’s formed some incredible chemistry with Cade Cunningham as both a dunker and a passer. But what stands out most are those ferocious Duren dunks. He is currently second in the NBA in dunks (203) behind only Giannis Antetokounmpo (219). It’ll be tough to catch the Milwaukee star, but this is another place to mention volume. Giannis has a usage rate of 35.5% and attempts nearly 20 shots per game overall. Duren’s usage rate is less than half that and attempts are almost one-third. He relies on hustle and his teammates, but he takes full advantage of every opportunity given to him.
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8. Field a top-8 defense
The Pistons’ cultural identity is built on defense. They were the original Bad Boys, and it propelled them to two consecutive titles. One of those bad boys, Joe Dumars, built a new team in that image and created the Going to Work era. That team went to six consecutive Eastern Conference Finals, two Finals, and won an NBA championship in the process. The Pistons haven’t had a top-8 defense (opponent adjusted) since 2007-08. This season, their 112.87 opponent adjusted defensive rating ranks ninth in the NBA. They are 0.05 points behind the
Cleveland Cavaliers and 1.3 points per 100 behind the Boston Celtics. Both those teams could cruise at the tail end of the season while the Pistons still have something to fight for.
9. Have the NBA’s Coach of the Year
Speaking of the Cleveland Cavaliers, this is probably Kenny Atkinson’s award to lose. He has propelled the Cavs to an elite squad. The man he replaced, Detroit’s JB Bickerstaff, will likely finish second. But Cleveland recently experienced a four-game losing skid, and they might not have much to play for in the season’s closing days. If Detroit manages to go on a real run and fights all the way to the four-seed, it will be a legitimate conversation. No Pistons coach has won Coach of the Year since Rick Carlise and his full head of hair and nice suits won in 2002. It’d be a great cap to a truly remarkable turnaround season for the Pistons.
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10. Achieved the most improbable turnaround in NBA history
The Pistons are sitting at 40 wins with 10 games remaining. Last season, they won just 14 games. That 26-game turnaround is already among the biggest in NBA history. If Detroit wins just three more games, they will have the seventh-biggest jump in wins from one season to the next. Context is also important here. If you look at the top six turnarounds in NBA history, they are all built on major talent infusion and return from injury.
The Boston Celtics (+42) added Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. The 1997-98 San Antonio Spurs drafted Tim Duncan and brought back a healthy David Robinson who missed all but six games the season prior. The LA
Lakers (+36) were coming off a strike-shortened season. The 1989-90 Spurs (+35) drafted the aforementioned Robinson. The 2004-05 Suns (+33) added Steve Nash as a free agent and completely redefined offensive basketball.
The 2024-25 Detroit Pistons added ... sixth man Malik Beasley on a one-year deal and traded for Tim Hardaway Jr., who was most recently playing limited minutes in the playoffs for the
Dallas Mavericks. Their biggest-ticket acquisition was Tobias Harris, who gives you 30 minutes of steady but not eye-popping production every night. Otherwise, it was all about continuity, internal growth and, most importantly, addition by subtraction.
The Pistons cut bait on veterans who were often in street clothes and couldn’t play a lick of defense, the president of basketball operations who put the team together, and the head coach who led them straight into a franchise-low ditch.
They added an excellent communicator and leader in JB Bickerstaff to build a real NBA offense and defense in Detroit, Trajan Langdon as an executive who could put the shooting and competent defense around star Cade Cunningham and put everyone to work.
The Pistons responded and have redefined their future behind Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson, Jaden Ivey (whose season was tragically cut short by a major leg injury on Jan. 1), Ron Holland, and reliable veterans. It’s been an amazing season and an amazing experience.
Here’s to the Pistons finishing strong and crossing some of these milestones off their list.
Still Sizzling!!! pic.twitter.com/C7zxFMQDQF
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