The Pistons have a clear timetable to get right

The Detroit Pistons have lost four straight and are now just 2.5 games ahead of the Boston Celtics for first place in the Eastern Conference. The sky is not falling yet, but Detroit does need to get things right soon. 

The Pistons are in a profound shooting slump, especially from 3-point range, which isn’t new, but unlike the rest of the season, the Pistons haven’t done enough in the paint during this drought to make up for it. 

The Pistons have been -20 in points in the paint over their last four games, a number that isn’t sustainable when they are shooting so poorly from long range. In fact, the Pistons have shot 36.5 percent from 3-point range over the last four, which they could live with if they were dominating the paint as they normally do. 

Luckily, they have some time to get right as they wait for a crucial injury update about Ausar Thompson, but the Pistons have to find themselves soon. 

The Detroit Pistons’ schedule could cure their slump 

The Pistons have six upcoming games against opponents they should beat, so now would be the perfect time to break out of this slump. 

Detroit next heads to Brooklyn for a rematch against the Nets, who handed the Pistons their worst loss of the season after coming back from more than 20 points down to steal the game. 

The Pistons should be up for this one and will hopefully not take their foot off the pedal this time. 

Detroit then goes on the road to Philly, who could be missing both Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey and then to Toronto to face the Raptors, who have lost five of their last 10, slumping just like Detroit. 

The Pistons then have two straight against the Wizards in Washington, a team that beat Detroit earlier in the season. But the Wizards have lost eight straight, so these are games Detroit should win. 

After that, the schedule heats back up with a four game homestand against the Warriors, Lakers, Hawks and Pelicans, so the Pistons need to be playing better than they are right now when those teams come to town or they are at risk of blowing the number one seed. 

Every team goes through a slump or two during an 82-game season, so it’s not time to sound the alarm bells just yet, especially if Detroit can take care of business over the next six games and get back to where they were at the beginning of the new year. 

The Pistons are being tested for real for the first time this season, and we’ll know what they are made of by how they respond to this adversity.