When Duncan Robinson signed a three-year deal with the Detroit Pistons last summer, he became the player on the roster with the most playoff experience. You've heard it a trillion times from outsiders that the team's lack of postseason experience will doom them this year, even though they've spent most of the season atop the East.
Robinson, however, sees it differently (per Jeff Zillgitt from NBA.com):
"Obviously, I just got here this year, but a lot of these guys got a lot of experience from that series last year, playing in meaningful games, playing in do-or-die situations and experiencing the pain that comes with that."
The first-round series loss to the Knicks last year still stings, although the Pistons weren't supposed to advance to begin with. Detroit put up a good fight, though, throwing New York for a loop in the process.
Four of those six games didn't go in the Pistons' favor if you're just focused on the win column, but as Robinson noted, what the team took away from that week-and-a-half stretch meant far more than it might've seemed.
Last year could help Pistons more than the doubters think
As Zillgitt noted in his piece, teams these days can achieve real success in the playoffs without first enduring years of postseason disappointment. He noted that Oklahoma City had won one series together before winning the title, and that Indiana entered the 2024 playoffs (when it made the NBA Finals) without winning a postseason series for three straight years.
Detroit's core "only" has one playoff series under its belt, but this is also a team that doesn't care much about expectations. The Pistons looked lost two seasons ago during a record-setting losing streak, and they bounced back last season by securing the No. 6 seed.
Even this season, it was supposed to be New York or Cleveland sitting atop the conference, which was a memo Detroit didn't get.
Now, everything will change for the Pistons if Cade Cunningham, who is out for at least two weeks with a collapsed lung, is unable to return in time for the playoffs. He's their offensive engine and fearless leader on and off the floor. He's not your typical 24-year-old, that's for sure.
If he's able to be part of the equation (along with Isaiah Stewart), though, this isn't a team you want to overlook solely because their core has only played in one playoff series that actually had a significant impact on them. It's not nearly as much experience as teams like the Celtics or Knicks have, but it's also not a good enough reason to completely discount the Pistons' potential.
Sure, Robinson is biased, considering he's a Piston now. Still, from a player who played 70 playoff games with the Heat, if his observation is that Detroit truly did take away "a lot" from last year, you have to believe even more so that they could surprise some people this postseason.