Detroit and Indiana: Playoff Race?
By J.M. Poulard
Essentials
- Teams: Detroit Pistons (19-30) at Indiana Pacers (17-32)
- Date: February 4
- Time: 7:00 p.m.
- Television: FSD
Get in the Game
The Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers could both make the playoffs by season’s end. Let that sink in for a moment.
Both clubs are sub-.500 at the moment, a detail one can casually gloss over in the dreaded Eastern Conference. The two teams occupying the No. 7 and 8 seeds (last two playoff spots if postseason started today) are the Charlotte Hornets (21-27) and Miami Heat (21-27).
These units aren’t exactly locks given their records and proximity to other teams with a near equal amount of wins, and that opens up the door for Detroit and Indiana.
Granted, this is far from a given. A lot of things need to break just right for the Pistons and Pacers, and some of them have already begun.
Miami’s Dwyane Wade will likely miss a few weeks due to a hamstring injury, and his absence robs the Heat of its best playmaker and perimeter scorer.
The Brooklyn Nets trail the Heat by a mere two wins, but they seem interested in blowing up the roster based on all the trade chatter that surrounds the club. One would assume Brooklyn will jettison some of its talent at the trade deadline in an effort to reduce the cost of an expensively bad roster. If such is the case, expect the Nets to drop all the way to the bottom of the East standings.
The end result here is that five teams get to realistically compete for the last two playoffs spots:
- Boston Celtics
- Heat
- Hornets
- Pacers
- Pistons
Boston is a tricky one because they likely want as many draft picks as possible, a reality that’s easier to manage should it miss the postseason. Then again, perhaps management wants the young guys to experience the playoffs; so it’s tough to determine whether the Celtics will be in the running come April.
Still, Detroit and Indiana could realistically get in. It will be extremely tough for both squads to make it, because they truly need the perfect storm of events the rest of the way for that to happen. Whether it’s additional injuries on other teams, trades or signing bought out players, the Pistons and Pacers are going to need some additional help the rest of the way.
That’s where I believe the Pacers have an edge.
There is a possibility they will get Paul George, their best player, back in March provided he’s completely healed his broken leg; and he seems well on that path. Boy would that boost Indy’s chances. The Pacers struggle to put up points due to a lack of perimeter creativity.
Sure, David West and Roy Hibbert can give them scoring punch on the interior every now and then, but they need some help in order to set up their attempts, which is where George comes in. He’s not necessarily a gifted playmaker, but teams must rotate defenders out to him and account for his drives and shooting. That might not sound like much, but every inch of space afforded to Indiana players helps, and George’s return would assist in that department.
It’s far from a lock that George will rejoin his teammates this season, though. The Pacers probably need to play .500 ball the rest of the way to be within striking distance should George return, and that’s hardly a given. But the possibility is there unlike for Detroit who recently lost starting point guard Brandon Jennings to an Achilles injury.
Short of some miraculous transaction, Detroit doesn’t look like it will win enough games to get in unless every team ahead of it takes a big slide.
Knowing this, one can understand the “importance” of tonight’s tilt between Detroit and Indiana. Currently, it only looks like a meaningless February contest between units with losing records, but if one looks a little at the bigger picture, it appears as though this contest could have ripple effects in the standings.
Call it the IndyTroit Effect.
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