EC’s top seed

For the first time since the 2006-2007 season, the Detroit Pistons secured the top seed in the NBA Playoffs’ Eastern Conference. That time, they had a solid rotation of Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Chris Webber and Amare Stoudemire.  They reached the Conference Finals but lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Tobias Harris, the oldest on the Pistons’ roster at 33, was not yet 15 during the Detroit 2007 edition.  Isaiah Stewart, Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson were still in pre-school and the team’s youngest, Ron Holland II, was still learning to walk.

If this season’s edition will make it far to the Conference Finals. This will give them home court advantage throughout the post season.

Since taking over the team during the 2024-2025 season, coach JB Bickerstaff had slowly but surely brought Detroit to playoff contention, despite suspensions and injuries which hounded them this season.   At 57-22 and with 3 regular season games remaining, they had exceeded expectations and are on pace to hit 60 wins for only the third time in franchise history if they win their remaining games.

Without top player Cunningham who went down with a collapsed left lung last March, three players had stepped up big time for the Pistons – Daniss Jenkins, Duren and Harris.

Jenkins, the second year guard who was bordering on irrelevancy last season, had played exceptionally well since Cunningham’s injury.   He punctuated his stellar play with a career-high 30 points in a close win over the LA Lakers last week.  He averaged 18.5 points the last 8 games, compared to the 1.0ppg in only 7 games played last season.

Duren, the 22-year-old starting center, is a candidate for the NBA’s Most Improved Player.  He is showing leadership among his teammates, setting the tone not only in the locker room but also on the playing court.   He averages 19.5 points, 10.6 rebounds and almost 2 assists per outing.

Harris, like Bickerstaff, came to Detroit last season and with his veteran presence, steadied the mostly young players in the locker room.  The 15-year vet is the team’s third leading scorer behind Cunningham and Duren and he could be the key factor in the playoffs in the absence of Cunningham.