Worst-case playoff scenario for the Pistons is lurking

The Detroit Pistons hope to improve upon their first-round playoff exit last season, and that goal will be easier to achieve if they can avoid Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

Giannis dominated all the talk at the trade deadline (which I fear had more to do with gambling markets than reality), but nothing materialized, so he’s still in Milwaukee, a team that is getting ignored. 

The Pistons, on the other hand, have been getting their flowers of late, with a big presence at the All-Star game and a top spot in most current NBA power rankings. 

The Pistons would tell you that they don’t care who they face in the playoffs and that they feel they can beat anyone, which may be true, but it would be nice to avoid a healthy Giannis in the first round. 

The Pistons would like to avoid the Bucks 

The Milwaukee Bucks currently have a 23-30 record and are 17 games behind the first-place Pistons, so don’t appear to be much of a threat. 

Detroit is also 2-1 against the Bucks this season, but both wins came without Giannis in the lineup, and he only played a few minutes in the loss, so the Pistons actually lost to the Bucks without Giannis for most of the game. 

Over his career, Giannis is 34-11 against Detroit. Yes, those were different teams, and the Pistons were bad for much of that stretch, but it is what it is, and until Detroit starts beating the Bucks regularly, Milwaukee will always be the big brother of the division. 

And a first-round playoff matchup is not out of the question. 

The Bucks have won two in a row and are just 1.5 games behind the Hawks for the final play-in spot. The Bulls and Hawks made moves to get worse, so there is a good chance the Bucks pull ahead of both of them. 

With a healthy Giannis, there is no reason Milwaukee can’t win the play-in tournament and make the playoffs as the 8th seed, as none of the teams ahead of them are very good. 

Giannis is one of a few players in the league who can almost singlehandedly win a playoff series, and none of the other teams in the play-in range have a guy even close to him. 

No one thought the Bucks would be this bad coming into the season, but they have had a lot of injuries, and if they can get their whole team back by the playoffs, will be far more dangerous than they are now. 

It would be satisfying symbolism for the Pistons to dispatch the Bucks as a changing of the guard but count me as one fan that doesn’t want to see Giannis in the first round.