5 Optimistic overreactions to Pistons preseason win over the Suns
The Detroit Pistons came out red hot and beat the Phoenix Suns in the second of two preseason games against the Western Conference powerhouse.
Tobias Harris was back after a bout of COVID and made an immediate impact on both ends, with he and Cade Cunningham accounting for 47 combined points.
It wasn’t all good, as the Pistons shot just 25 percent from the 3-point line and had a couple of scoring droughts, but the good news is that they won anyway.
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Of course, it’s only preseason so none of this matters, but when you are a young team trying to build positive vibes after a catastrophic season, everything matters.
The Pistons won, so let’s focus on positives for this installment of preseason overreactions.
The Detroit Pistons are a play-in team!
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. The Pistons aren’t always going to shoot like they did in the first quarter. The Suns weren’t playing all of their guys. It’s preseason, etc...But you can see how it could work.
The Pistons have more spacing, an improved looking defense, clear roles for everyone and a better bench than they did last season, that much is already obvious. They are going to win more than 14 games.
When you look at the Eastern Conference, there are six teams that are very likely to make the playoffs in Boston, NY, Philly, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Indiana. You have two more likely candidates in Orlando and Miami.
Then you have the rest.
There will be seven teams fighting for two play-in spots, two of which are tanking. The Bulls got worse, the Hawks are still mediocre and the Raptors and Hornets are in similar positions roster-wise to the Pistons.
The Hawks will likely take one of those spots, so the Pistons will really be competing with Chicago, Toronto and Charlotte for the other. There is no reason Detroit shouldn’t be able to hang with those teams and at least be playing meaningful games in the second half of the season for the first time in five years.
It will probably take 35+ wins to do it, so I wouldn’t bet on it, but the Pistons are better.