Detroit Pistons head onto the road to face division rival Indiana Pacers

The Detroit Pistons blew away the Chicago Bulls last game and now head to Indiana to try and take care of another division rival.

At this stage of the season and with so many teams clustered around the middle of the Eastern Conference, wins, particularly wins against teams with similar records, are vital for the Detroit Pistons.

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The Pistons looked good last game as they blew away a depleted Chicago Bulls team 109-95, allowing them to leap frog into the seventh seed.

There’s no time for rest however, as they head into the Bankers Life Fieldhouse to take on the Indiana Pacers.

The Pacers currently sit in the sixth seed with a 32-31 record.

A victory for the Pistons would see them tie that record.

A loss on the other hand could be costly, as the Bulls play the Orlando Magic in a game they should really win.

If the Bulls win and the Pistons lose, the Pistons will slump back into the eighth seed.

A night like this could be the difference between ending the season in sixth or missing the playoffs completely.

While the pressure seems to have been turned all the way up, the Pistons appear to finally be hitting their strides.

Reggie Jackson was brilliant last game and his second-half performance in particular was eerily similar to how he was playing in games down the stretch last season.

Jackson was a perfect 10 of 10 on shots in the second half and finished the game with 26 points, 6 assists and just a single turnover.

He was also +10 in plus/minus, the highest of any of the Pistons’ starters.

Stan Van Gundy’s new philosophy of staggering Jackson’s minutes appears to be working.

Jackson’s asthma problems have been well-documented, but this new rotation has seen Jackson look far more energetic and impactful for the entirety of his time on the court.

The best Reggie Jackson is the one that’s attacking the basket and playing his heart out for 100 per cent of his minutes.

A properly rested Jackson is going to be a handful for Jeff Teague to handle.

More important than Jackson’s seeming resurgence has been the Pistons’ bench getting into a groove.

It’s been well discussed how well Ish Smith has been playing, and when combined with Tobias Harris the Pistons have been blowing opposing teams off the court.

What’s most impressive is that it seems like the entire bench unit is rolling at the moment.

Stanley Johnson has quietly been putting together a solid second-half of the season on both ends, while last game saw Aron Baynes put up 12 points and 7 rebounds in only 18 minutes.

The Pistons’ bench has been embarrassingly bad for the past season and a half and was a significant reason why they didn’t finish higher in the standings last season.

If the bench unit plays at the standard they’ve set recently, the Pacers should have trouble keeping up with the Pistons.

The Pacers have the third-worst defensive bench in the league, giving up 37.9 points per game to opposing bench units.

Only the Golden State Warriors (38.8) and Brooklyn Nets (40.8) have worse bench units.

If Smith, Harris, Johnson and Baynes put together strong performances when the starters are resting and Reggie Jackson continues his positive improvement, the Pistons should be able to account for the Pacers, despite holding their Paul George trump card.

However, it’s one thing for the matchup to look good on paper, but it’s another to actually go out there and execute.

We’ve seen many examples this season where the Pistons come out lifeless and get blown away early without putting up much resistance.

It’s time for this squad to put those performances behind them for good and really start pushing to entrench themselves inside the playoffs.

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