The Detroit Pistons are enjoying a season for the ages. One underrated part of why they've been so successful has been their performance in clutch situations. As of this writing, the Pistons hold the highest net rating in the NBA by a shockingly wide margin.
Detroit's clutch time net rating currently stands at 50.0 — nearly 14 percentage points ahead of the second-place team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. The four teams rounding out the top five in this category are OKC with a 36.3 clutch time net rating, the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 36.2, the Los Angeles Lakers with 29.8, and the Philadelphia 76ers with 29.2.
This is a wild statistic and one that's very indicative of how this team will perform in a postseason setting. It's one thing to consistently dominate your opponents to the point that you don't need to perform well in clutch situations (the Thunder are a good example of this), but your team will inevitably be faced with those circumstances come playoff time.
The Pistons are executing down the stretch of close games
That's why being a team that's such a consistent performer in high-stakes situations is such a good sign of things to come. Sure, you may find success in the regular season without having to win in a ton of tight-game scenarios, but those games are going to come your way in April and May. Having experience executing with the pressure on is going to benefit you once you reach that place and time.
And it's been the Pistons' ability to get the job done at the end of close games that's been a huge reason for their Eastern Conference-leading 14-2 record. Detroit is now only two games away from breaking the franchise record for most wins in a row, and this comes less than two full years after they tied the league record for most games lost in a row. Pistons fans are truly living in the twilight zone in the best way possible.
The most encouraging part for Detroit is that none of this feels fluky. Their late-game execution has come from their poise and a level of maturity that young teams rarely show this early in a growth cycle.
Winning close games requires trust, discipline, and players who embrace the moment. The Pistons have checked all of these boxes so far. If this is the version of Detroit that shows up in the postseason, the ceiling is going to be far higher than anyone imagined even a year ago.