The Detroit Pistons are on the brink of elimination. Entering the postseason, the 60-win team appeared poised to reach the conference finals and secure its first series win since the 2007-2008 season. However, the young core the Pistons possess has tasted playoff expectations for the first time, and it’s been sour. They find themselves down 3-1 against the 8-seed Orlando Magic. Why are they in this position?
Pistons Disaster-class
The Detroit Pistons are staring down the barrel of a first-round exit as the number one seed. That has happened only 6 times in NBA history, the last being in 2023, when the 8-seeded Miami Heat defeated the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks. Entering the playoffs, I, like many others, thought the Pistons’ style of play would transition seamlessly to the postseason. I was mistaken. Their offensive warts are flashing before our eyes.
Through the first four games of their series, Detroit’s superstar Cade Cunningham has been a net negative on the court. His numbers are good with 29.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, and 7.5 apg. The biggest issue is his inability to protect the ball. He’s averaging 6.75 turnovers per game, 24 total in the last three games. That’s the most TOs in a three-game span in the playoffs since they were first tracked in 1977-1978.
Both games in Orlando were winnable, with the score being within a possession under five minutes remaining. With the games in the balance, Cade stunk it up. He shot 8/23 and 3/10 from three in Game 3 and 7/23 from the floor and 3/11 from downtown in last night’s Game 4. For someone who played at an All-NBA First Team level this season, he has disappeared when his team needed a big-time road win. The Pistons had the 3rd best road record in the NBA this past season.
Cade isn’t the only Piston that has come up small this series. Jalen Duren, I don’t know what happened to you. Through the 70 games you played in the regular season, you played as if you were going to be the reason throwback centers can be the second-best player on a championship contender. He was a walking 20 points and 10 rebounds whenever he wanted, bullying the competition. Through four games, Duren is averaging a measly 9.8 ppg and 8.3 rpg and has been borderline unplayable down the stretch.
What’s been most shocking is that he was in line for a 5-year $240 million max contract extension this offseason and has played himself out of the massive payday. Wendell Carter Jr. has been dominating Duren. At times, bullying him on the basketball court. As the great Zach Randolph once said, “Where I’m from, bullies get bullied.” Duren was feasting on anyone and everyone who wanted the smoke, and he’s been punked this series. Simple as that.
How Can Detroit Get Back in the Series?
Get back to their identity. They were one of the best defensive teams in the NBA last season and have been playing good defense, just not as well as in the regular season. Now, part of that is their willingness to turn the ball over, which leads to easy buckets for the Magic. In the series, Orlando is averaging 20.75 points off turnovers. When they are a team that’s only averaging 100.5 ppg against the Pistons, that can’t happen. You can’t allow 20.6% of a team’s points in the series scored off your own mistakes.
Final Thoughts
I am still in shock that they lost last night’s game. They held the Magic to 32.6% shooting and still found a way to lose. Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs combined for 5/31 and 1/15 shooting from three. Such a terrible loss. What did you make of the Magic going up 3-1 on the Pistons last night? Do you think Detroit can come back to win the series?
As always, thank you so much for checking out my thoughts on what the problem has been for the Detroit Pistons as they find themselves in a 3-1 series hole! Be sure to check out our other amazing content here at New Leaf News! We hope you’re enjoying your day and look forward to seeing you again soon.
