The Detroit Pistons weathered a tough early schedule that had them playing most of the best teams of the Eastern Conference with four back-to-backs in the first 16 games.
There has been early buzz around the team, but that has started to wane as they’ve lost three in a row to drop to the 11th seed in the East in a tie with the Bulls and Hornets.
The Pistons are still firmly in the mediocre group of teams that includes Chicago, Charlotte, Atlanta and Brooklyn, who figure to be fighting for play-in spots all season.
Unless of course the Pistons go in the other direction.
Even though they are still in the fat, mediocre middle of the East, the Pistons are still far closer to the dregs of the bottom three than they are to the top, so it will only take one long losing streak for this team to re-think it’s season.
Pistons schedule: The turning point of the season
An NBA regular season is long and takes plenty of twists and turns along the way. All teams have their ups and downs, but when you are a team living on the margins like the Pistons, there will be dangerous parts of the schedule where it all threatens to fall apart.
We are in one now.
The Pistons have lost three straight and Cade Cunningham is currently out, hopefully not for long, but it wouldn’t be shocking to see him miss a few more games with a bruised hip joint.
The Pistons play the Raptors at home tonight in a game that I am calling a “must win” if they don’t want their improved start to fade into memory.
Detroit is favored by up to five points on various books, so are expected to win, and a loss would be catastrophic to their season considering what is coming up.
After the home game against Toronto, the Pistons have the following six games:
@Memphis
@Indiana
Vs. 76ers
Vs. Bucks
@Boston
@New York
Yikes.
The Pistons then come home to play the Jazz before embarking on a four-game western road trip that will include games against the Suns, Lakers, Kings and Nuggets.
It’s not hyperbole to say that this 11-game stretch is going to decide which direction the Pistons take this season. If they lose most or all of these, Detroit may decide that keeping their 2025 draft pick doesn’t look like such a bad option.
The East is bad enough that the Pistons should be able to stay ahead of the dregs, but this stretch may decide if they are going to join them or try to crack into the play-in picture.