The Detroit Pistons are one of the hottest teams in the NBA and the city is buzzing with the defending-champion Boston Celtics coming into town tomorrow.
The Pistons will be seeking their 8th-straight win and are playing their best basketball in a decade, now just a game out of the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference, tied in wins with the Pacers and Bucks who are just ahead of them.
It’s been a dream season no one saw coming, and it’s been fueled by All-NBA level play from Cade Cunningham and shooting numbers that defy belief.
Just about everyone on the team has a hot hand at the moment and the Pistons are starting to look eerily reminiscent to other great shooting teams, especially of late.
The 2016-17 Golden State Warriors had three of the greatest shooters of all time in Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant and won 67 games and the NBA title.
They shot an incredible 49.5 percent from the field as a team and 38.3 percent from long range, with Curry and Thompson doing the heavy lifting. And to be fair, they did this over a whole season, which is impressive.
But in this seven-game streak, the Detroit Pistons have been even better.
Detroit Pistons stats: Shooting the lights out
In the last seven games, the Pistons have averaged 125.1 points per game, tops in the NBA.
And they’ve been doing it unselfishly, notching 30.7 assists per game which is also #1 in the league in that span.
They have shot an unreal 50.5 percent from the floor as a team, 38.6 percent from the three-point line and 78 percent from the free-throw line even after missing 11 last night.
They’ve cut their turnovers to 14.7 per game, still not great, but a vast improvement from earlier in the season.
The Pistons are best when they are running, and they have been, and are now up to 18.5 fast break points per game, 2nd in the NBA overall.
They’ve had a 108.4 defensive rating in the last seven games (even with the shootout in Atlanta), so the Pistons are getting it done on both ends.
The shooting frenzy hasn’t been just one guy, everyone has had their moment, but four players in particular stand out on the offensive end.
Cade Cunningham
What more can you say about Cade? He has arguably been the best PG in the NBA during this seven-game stretch, putting up 28.7 points, 9.4 assists, 6.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game with shooting splits of 49/41/92. He’s getting it done from all three levels and getting to the line more than six times per game.
Tobias Harris
To me, Harris has been the biggest X-factor in this stretch, as he’s finally started putting up the kinds of shooting numbers he has for his whole career.
He’s averaged 19 points per game over the last seven with unreal shooting splits of 60/42/92, which look like something out of a video game.
Harris has been a steady veteran leader all season but has been outstanding shooting the ball of late and has come up with some huge buckets when the Pistons needed them.
Malik Beasley
You can’t talk about shooting without mentioning Beasley, who is on pace to become just the 2nd player in NBA history to average 42 percent from long range on 11 attempts per game per 36 minutes. The other guy is Steph Curry, who has done it five times.
Beasley has been scorching of late, shooting an unconscious 51.4 percent from 3-point range on 10.6 attempts per game.
He’s a big reason for the turnaround this season and should be a frontrunner for 6th Man of the Year.
Jalen Duren
While Duren is not a shooter, his 5.1 assists per game during this streak have helped create good looks for his teammates.
He’s shooting 67.2 percent from the field himself while averaging 13.6 points and 12.7 rebounds. He may not be launching 3’s but his offensive versatility has been a big part of the recent surge in scoring.
The Pistons will need all of it on Wednesday, as they’ll be facing one of the best shooting teams in the league in the Boston Celtics.