Detroit Pistons: Ranking their top 5 wins in the last 5 seasons

Honorable mention

Detroit Pistons vs. Los Angeles Lakers – March 6, 2012 – F/OT: 88-85

This game is listed in the honorable mentions because it’s from six years ago, and doesn’t meet the past five seasons criteria. Nonetheless, this game would have been a strong contender to make the top five if it were in the last five years.

This game stands out for a few reasons. The first is how big of a mismatch the Lakers and Pistons were at the time. The 2012 Lakers were a superpower and this was an era of dysfunction for the Pistons.

The most memorable moment was Rodney Stuckey nearly making Kobe fall, and then nailing the jumper late in the fourth quarter.

Detroit Pistons vs. Houston Rockets – Nov. 23, 2018 – F/OT: 116-111

The most recent game featured in this article barely misses the cut for the top five.

This is not a knock against this game. It was as much of a thrilling statement win as any game in the top five. Dominant performances from Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond, and a fourth quarter takeover from Reggie Jackson (a common theme in this article) led this team to a victory against one of the NBA’s powerhouses.

This game stays in the honorable mentions because this is a Rockets team that isn’t playing great basketball right now (see: loss to the 4-14 Cavaliers right after) and the fact that there can only be so many statement victories in one season. (spoiler: there are others from this year in the top five)

Detroit Pistons vs. Golden State Warriors – Jan. 16, 2016 – F: 113-95

This game against the Warriors is the closest call for missing the top five.

This game was meaningful for the Pistons for a number of reasons. While the score may look like a blowout, this was a Warriors team that was known for closing 20-point deficits in a matter of minutes.

So this game was always “close” and the Pistons being able to steal a win from the team with the best regular season record in NBA history makes this a statement game.

The Pistons ended up making the playoffs, and you would be crazy to think that handing the Warriors one their nine losses didn’t give this team some confidence.