With their 113-103 loss to the Celtics tonight, the Pistons have been officially eliminated from the playoff race.
They’d been effectively out of the race for weeks, but now it’s done.
The 30-48 Pistons can win no more than 34 games. Nine Eastern Conference teams – including the 36-win Nets, 36-win Celtics and 35-win Heat – have already surpassed that total.
You might have wanted them to tank, but give the resilient Pistons credit for staving off elimination this long. Before tonight, they’d won six of nine.
At this point, though, tanking really should be the priority.
The Pistons can’t sink below the Knicks, Timberwolves, 76ers, Lakers or Magic. So the No. 6 through No. 10 seeds in the lottery are still in play. The No. 8 seed seems most likely. The Pistons have a three-game buffer from the ninth-worst Hornets and are 1.5 games “behind” the seventh-worst Nuggets.