If someone had told you last season that the Detroit Pistons were going to be the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference just a year later, you might have advised them to seek professional help.
No one saw this coming, including Homer #1 (me) who thought the team was going to win around 30 games and would have been happy with that result.
Instead, the Pistons are now 41-32, a win away from TRIPLING their win total from last season.
They had a productive night off last night, as the Pacers, Bucks and Knicks all lost, which moved the Pistons ahead of Milwaukee for sole possession of the 5th seed.
With Damian Lillard out for the season and Giannis Antetokounmpo missing last night, the Bucks are now in a bit of a freefall and have won just four games in their last 10.
It’s now almost a statistical certainty that the Pistons will play either the Pacers or Knicks in the 1st round of the playoffs, though Detroit still has plenty of work to do to get there with a tough schedule in front of them.
The Pistons are now just 1.5 games behind the Pacers and 4.5 behind the Knicks for the 3-seed, which is obviously a long shot, but even having a shot at the top 3 see in the Eastern Conference was unthinkable even earlier this season.
Pistons fans have been debating about who they want to play in the first round, and to be honest, I am just worried about getting there, as this is no time to get cute if you’re Detroit. Win your games, go into the playoffs hot and play whoever you play, as there are matchup issues against any of the three teams they are likely to face.
But what about the Bucks? Could they be orchestrating a soft tank?
Eastern Conference standings: Pistons, Bucks, Pacers Knicks and the seed no one seems to want
With these four teams within five games of each other, we are being set up for a wild finish in the East.
Of these four teams, the Pacers have been playing the best of late, as winners of seven of their last 10 games.
The Pistons are right there with them, while the Bucks and Knicks have both struggled and are both banged up.
The Pacers are the healthiest of the four teams, and though none of them would say it, the 5th seed is likely the one teams are trying to avoid, as it would mean a first-round series against Indiana with the Pacers owning home-court advantage.
The Knicks are missing Jalen Brunson and have only won five of their last 10 games, suddenly looking very vulnerable in a first-round series.
You have to wonder if the Bucks don’t mind so much if they get knocked back to the 6th seed, as right now they would have a better chance against the Knicks than the Pacers.
The Pistons can’t afford to think this way, as they have nine tough games left and their sole focus will be to get there and let the seeding shake out as it may.
The Bucks are 0-2 against the Knicks this season and 3-1 against the Pacers in case you were wondering, so soft tanking to avoid Indiana may not be in their best interests either.
The Pistons can only think about one thing, which is winning as many games as possible and trying to pass all of these teams while going into the playoffs with momentum, but with two of the teams struggling, it's not unthinkable that the Pistons could end up hosting a playoff series.