The Detroit Pistons Still Leading The East With All-Star Game Approaching

DETROIT, MI – The Detroit Pistons have been the story of the NBA this season and for good reason this time.

Despite a better than expected start many observers are still wondering when will they fall off, or if it’s all real.

After more than a decade waiting for a team to show this promise at times it doesn’t feel real. This could be the first Pistons team to make the playoffs in back-to-back seasons since they did so in 2007-08 and 2008-09.

And it’s what they’ve done to propel themselves to a 33-11 record, that should encourage you to believe.

They began the season on a mission to dominate the paint on both ends of the court with defense as their main identifying trait. This year they’ve been winners of 13 games in a row, maintained the NBA’s second best defense, and routinely outscore their opponents in the paint.

Defense First

The Pistons defense has been a major reason for their success. They were tied with the Houston Rockets with the 4th best defensive rating (112.1) in the NBA through the first quarter of the season.

Since then they’ve improved to 2nd best defensive (109.2) rating behind only the OKC Thunder. Those represent the only teams in the NBA with a defensive rating UNDER 110 per game. And even better, they’ve shown the ability to hold teams well below season averages. The most recent examples came in wins where they held the Bulls and Knicks under 100 points. It’s not common in the modern NBA to have that as a consistent identity, but the Pistons historically have been defensive trendsetters before.

”That’s the tell of this team,” JB Bickerstaff said. “When called upon we have the chance to get stops.”

Which encourages them despite calls to bolster the offense with a trade deadline move. It’s still to be determined if the Pistons feel a major move is needed, but that doesn’t mean they don’t see areas they can get better.

Room for Improvement?!

Despite the early season success, coach Bickerstaff is still seeking improvement from the East’s #1 team.

“It’s the commitment to the little things. Obviously, we’re still a work in progress. There’s things that we can continue to improve on that we’ve seen bite us in the butt at times, but we’re fortunate enough to still be able to win.”

The intriguing thing is despite how good this team has played, there’s a thought they still haven’t achieved their best. You have some observers that ask when will the Pistons fall off. But those close to the situation believe its the opposite, how much better than good can the Pistons be?

“[We] still believe that our identity, and being able to play to our identity, gives us an edge. And the more we can do that and clean up all the things that we’re still working on, I think we’ll be seeing our best basketball in the future.”

There aren’t many opposing teams who have proven capable of truly competing when the Pistons are focused on the defensive end. I believe Ron Holland said it best;

“When we really want to give our all on the defensive end, not many can hang with us.”