The Detroit Pistons will take on the Indiana Pacers tonight in two teams fighting for Eastern Conference playoff position, which is not a sentence I expected to write this year if I am being honest.
The Pistons have exceeded expectations so far and after a slow start, the Pacers are back in the mix as the 6th seed in the East, winners of seven of their last 10 games.
The Pistons are 8-2 in that stretch, one of the hottest teams in the league, so there will be plenty at stake when they play one of their division rivals tonight in Little Caesear’s Arena.
Bragging rights that matter
The Pistons and Pacers used to be heated rivals who regularly fought for the top of the Eastern Conference, but that cooled for a long stretch when the two teams were rarely good at the same time, most of the blame for that belonging to Detroit.
They have a nice rivalry brewing now as two of the younger teams on the come-up and some players who genuinely don’t like each other. Unfortunately, we won’t see two of them tonight, as Jaden Ivey is hurt and Bennedict Mathurin is suspended.
The two teams have split the season series so far, so the winner will have bragging rights, but more importantly, will have the lead in the head-to-head record, which is used as the first tiebreaker for playoff position.
The Pistons need to win this series to guarantee the tiebreaker with the Pacers, as Indiana has a better division record, which would be the next deciding factor since neither team is likely to win the division.
Cade Cunningham vs. Tyrese Haliburton debate
Coming into the season, Haliburton, the two-time All-Star and one-time All-NBA player who had just led his team to the Eastern Conference Finals, was the darling of the league, but that title has shifted to Cade Cunningham, who is pretty much doing the same things with his team this year, leading an underdog squad to a better-than-expected record.
Haliburton’s numbers are down across the board, while Cunningham is enjoying a breakout season that should end in his first All-Star appearance. I’m completely biased but I would take Cade over Haliburton and it’s not particularly close now, especially when you factor in defense, where Cade has made a big leap.
We may not get to see them both tonight, as Haliburton is listed as questionable with a groin injury, but this debate has at least tightened up and may have shifted heavily towards Cunningham.
The NBA standings
The Pistons are just a half game behind the Pacers for the 6th seed and just a game behind the Magic for the 5th, so this game is meaningful. A meaningful regular-season game, folks! It’s been a while for the Pistons, and I for one couldn’t be happier.
The Pistons have just started a tough stretch of their schedule, and the 4-9 seeds in the East are all within two games of each other, so there will definitely be more shuffling as the season goes on, but it would be nice to be sitting in a playoff position as the trade deadline approaches.
It’s great to have a big game against the Pacers again, as it is always more entertaining to have something on the line against a rival.