The Detroit Pistons.... ('26 Playoffs Edition)...

B.A.R.

B.A.R.

CTG Partner
Staff member
I will say right off the bat, this feels GREAT! That was a long drought from the playoffs and frankly an even longer drought from true contention! The last truly significant playoff game in Detroit was Game #6 at The Palace, which the eventual champs won in 2008. Yeah, eighteen years ago! Yes, there have been playoff games since that point, but none involving a team that could reach the NBA Finals!

This team is different. They are different in today's NBA, and that is a good thing.

This team is also AHEAD of schedule on the rebuild. Last season was a taste of the playoffs, and they were a player or a few plays away from winning that series. Experience from the Knicks was the eventual back-breaker there. They should not be a #1 seed this season, but here we are.

I do want to mention the last local team that was 'ahead of schedule' was the 2023 Lions. My lesson learned there is that we don't have to wait for the next step. Let's hope they can go out and grab it! Time is money...

I'll be honest right away -- this team won 60 games and has the HCA in the East. That being said, they are not the favorite, and I don't think they should be. Detroit is in the conversation, though... Why do I not have them as the favorite? The bottom line is the team is missing a few things -- 1st and foremost is more pure shooting. They will have their moments, but over the course of a 7-game series, I worry about their 3-point shooting holding up. The 2nd issue is a secondary guy (to Cade) who is able to create on their own in the half-court offense. They will be relentless on defense and have one of the 2-3 best players in the conference. Detroit can win the East, but they will need to play their very best!

We spoke of the return of Tatum in the other thread, so time to discuss the return of Mr. Cade Cunningham. That was a scary injury when we first heard about it. He dove for a loose ball, and suddenly, two days later, we hear about a collapsed lung. Thankfully, this was a minor collapse, and he only missed 3 weeks. I was very happy he was able to play in 3 games upon his return. I was shocked he played 25 or so minutes in the contests. He looked GREAT! Such a relief to the entire fanbase.

Did we have a benefit to Cade missing a few weeks? Absolutely! You see, Detroit signed Dannis Jenkins to a full contract back just before the All-Star break period. He was playing very well on a two-way contract and deserved the full-time gig. He immediately started playing terribly for several weeks after the new contract. This injury thrust him into the starting lineup, and he took off again! The Monday night home game vs LA Lakers on March 24th was the epitome of his rise. Detroit needs him to be BIG these next several weeks!

Overall, you gotta like this team!

Superstar Cade who learned some lessons last year in May...

Duren rose to a new level this year.

Beef Stew is the perfect playoff guy you want on your team. He was hurt for part of the playoffs last year.

D Rob is shooting terrific this year and has plenty of experience in the postseason.

Ausur is that lockdown guy to give the Brunsons, Mitchells, and Tatum/Browns all they can handle!

This is going to be fun. The crowds at LCA will be absolutely electric and should provide an extra push in critical moments!

I cannot wait. Let's see if they can continue this special season and advance to the NBA Finals for the 1st time in 21 years. I'll be back on Saturday with a preview of both Game 1 and the Series vs tomorrow night's play-in winner. Both series will be interesting. One team scares me more, while the other provides quite the spicy series!

Toss out any and all questions...
 
Perfect situation where the first round doesn't need to be more than best of 5 (ya know, sporting purposes)

Hell Detroit wins best of 3 in 2 games against Miami, win best of 3 in 4 games against Orlando

But best of 7 it's just formality. Probably good time for a fan to grab tix on the cheap to go watch the team since neither opponent will entice high ticket prices
 
Tough for me to admit as a Knicks fan but I love the Pistons play style , more of the throw back to when teams didn't depend on the 3. .They kicked the piss out of my Knicks in the games I watched this season.
To be honest I'd gladly play the Celtics in the 2nd round than the Pistons ( not sure many Knicks fans would agree ) .
Happy to meet ya in the conference finals thou ( have a ton of conference winner parlay tickets with either of our squads )
 
Here's a fun little factoid for you all...

The 2003 NBA playoffs was the first year the NBA moved to 7 game series in the first round. We had the best of 5 format for the initial round from 1984 until 2002...

In that 2003 postseason, the #1 seed in the East was the Detroit Pistons...

Who was the #8 seed that year? The Orlando Magic.

Orlando snuck into The Palace and stole game #1 in a close one to grab HCA! A budding superstar, Tracy McGrady scored 43 and 46 points in Auburn Hills. Detroit evened things up before losing BOTH games down in the Magical Kingdom.

I was at Game #5. I was loud, I was proud and there was no way we were letting that team lose that easily in the first round. The Stons trounced Orlando and some of that motivation was because TMAC had basically said the series was over after Game #4.

Game 6 down in Orlando was the when we all really fell in love with Chauncey Billups! Mr. Big Shot poured in 40 as Detroit won by DDs to bring the series back to Metro Detroit.

Game 7 was like the previous 2, a double digit Pistons win. These last several games were also the beginning of the Tayshaun Prince era. Detroit played him more vs McGrady and he had to work for his points after those first few games.

Good times, great memories.

I was fortunate to attend 3 playoff games in 2003.

Game 5 vs Orlando (Win)
Game 1 vs Philadelphia (Win)
Game 2 vs New Jersey (Loss)

The Philadelphia game was infamous because there was a temporary blackout in the arena. I was in the bathroom and slipped on the floor. Absolutely disgusting is all I'll say. Billups also rolled his ankle in this one and was never the same the rest of the postseason.
 
No bets on today's game in Detroit but I hope that last year's experience reminds Detroit they need to come out strong.

I'm not going to take the last game into account. Detroit was clinched and Cade was still a few days from returning. That game meant much more to to the Magic.

The previous game in Orlando was one i actually bet on at HT (Magic led 57-50) and the Pistons were just dominant in the 2h.

Detroit had 24 turnovers in the loss in Detroit!

A key stat, always, is rebounding -- the Stons won that department in the boxscore in the 3 games that mattered (tied a few weeks ago).
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I thought Orlando would be 4 seed this year. Definitely one of the most disappointing teams this year. But they got Wagner back and seem to finally be playing to their potential. Perkins says Detroit misses Beasley, Hardaway and Schroeder. Looks like Detroit in a dog fight. Duren has to play a lot better. I put him on my All nba 3rd team.
 
lvmike32 said:
I thought Orlando would be 4 seed this year. Definitely one of the most disappointing teams this year. But they got Wagner back and seem to finally be playing to their potential. Perkins says Detroit misses Beasley, Hardaway and Schroeder. Looks like Detroit in a dog fight. Duren has to play a lot better. I put him on my All nba 3rd team.
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I'll have more in a bit but the fact Detroit is facing a 3-5 seed team, talent wise, as the 8th hurts.
 
B.A.R. said:
I'll have more in a bit but the fact Detroit is facing a 3-5 seed team, talent wise, as the 8th hurts.
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No doubt. If u figure Paulo and Cade cancel out you have Harris Duren Cunningham vs Wagner Bane Suggs. Pretty even to me. Certainly not 1 vs 8 level. I can see this going 7 now
 
Game #2 Prop Bet:

Dannis Jenkins o6.5 points -125 2 units

I'll be back before I hit the hay to talk about this one a bit more!
 
I've been kinda just watching and learning here as much as I can the first 3 days....

Tried the middle at MSG tonight and frankly should have held into the under for a longer spell. I know better.. a lot of Knicks 4th quarters in playoffs start like that -- SLOW.

Minnesota has somehow taken the lead with 420 left in the half. What a quarter!!
 
B.A.R. said:
Game #2 Prop Bet:

Dannis Jenkins o6.5 points -125 2 units

I'll be back before I hit the hay to talk about this one a bit more!
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I know we have plenty of time before the next game and frankly the price may become less steep....

That being said, I can see this moving to 7 at a lot of places soon. The juice reflects that right now. In the playoffs, every little point counts!

I've spoken for a few months now about the issues Detroit would have in the playoffs. The management didn't address those fully at the trade deadline. Yes, they grabbed Huerter but that's a depth piece. This team needs more long range shooting and another guy who can get points on their own !!

Who can that be in the interim? We'll see. Duren is the second guy here and has been fabulous all season. He was not good in Game #1 and that cannot happen again. Fwiw, I don't mind looking at his props for this all important game. More on that tomorrow night... The guy who can be that sparkplug is Daniss Jenkins. We're already in a good spot with the fact he has the ball in the hands quite a bit. He also finished the season so strong! As I spoke of in the first post, that injury was a blessing for Daniss.

Now, I understand why this # is so low. He has struggled since Cade came back. I think he's pressing a bit to "get his" since he's back on the bench and the minutes have been cut. The guy is 5-29 and scoring less than 6 PPG since Mr Cunningham has came back.

Time to change that. I believe the staff will get him into position early to get into the flow. He's an 82%+ FT shooter so that helps as well. He had 6 attempts the other night.

Detroit needs other guys to create and this will have to be by committee. Time for Daniss to be that man!
 
Foxtrot said:
Thoughts on Det ml in parlays. Can't fall 0-2 as 1 seed...
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You know, I was thinking about that earlier...

You would think that's logical. I like them to respond here. It all starts with rebounding. They'll lose every game to Orlando if they lose that stat. Again, Detroit won the first 3 games on the boards and tied the final regular season contest.

Duren HAS to be better. Period.

Now, no site grapes here but Detroit caught the short end of the stick drawing this team as an 8 seed. You all will get sick of me saying as much, but it's true. That being said, you gotta lace em up and go play!

I'm going to watch the replay tomorrow with my AM coffee - at least the sped up version. I'm not betting anything till I look back at it. I was working so I didn't have a front row seat for this one.
 
Greatly appreciated. I don't watch much regular season but lotof folks say Duren doesn't have the type of gm to get a bucket. In reg season he was able to get away with it but in gm 1 it was exposed. Like I said don't watch regular season. Just think one gm seems too little for people to make the claim and would hope he has a big gm. Like Carter but just think Duren is a great young player and rebounds
 
Foxtrot said:
Thoughts on Det ml in parlays. Can't fall 0-2 as 1 seed...
Click to expand...
I think that’s going to be a popular angle and one I’ve been burned with repeatedly in the past. As has been stated, these teams are way more evenly matched than their seeds indicate. I think game 2 will be a complete dog fight and I’ll likely take the 9 points. Detroit definitely needs this one and SHOULD win… but we all know how that often plays out
 
B.A.R. said:
You know, I was thinking about that earlier...

You would think that's logical. I like them to respond here. It all starts with rebounding. They'll lose every game to Orlando if they lose that stat. Again, Detroit won the first 3 games on the boards and tied the final regular season contest.

Duren HAS to be better. Period.

Now, no site grapes here but Detroit caught the short end of the stick drawing this team as an 8 seed. You all will get sick of me saying as much, but it's true. That being said, you gotta lace em up and go play!

I'm going to watch the replay tomorrow with my AM coffee - at least the sped up version. I'm not betting anything till I look back at it. I was working so I didn't have a front row seat for this one.
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Yeah... I agree. Was shocked to see Carter outplay Duren. If Magic win the Center battle, Pistons got zero chance to win the series imo...
Doubt it will be the case. Carter is too unstable so far in this league, but the burden of proof is on Duren now...
 
skanless13 said:
I think that’s going to be a popular angle and one I’ve been burned with repeatedly in the past. As has been stated, these teams are way more evenly matched than their seeds indicate. I think game 2 will be a complete dog fight and I’ll likely take the 9 points. Detroit definitely needs this one and SHOULD win… but we all know how that often plays out
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Agreed.

I'll keep an eye on live market but not willing to put them into a parlay.

I thought this was a 6 game series before we started but now I feel like Detroit will need 7. If it ends in 6, I believe that's an Orlando win.
 
Duren will be better in Game #2, no doubt in my mind.

Another interesting thing is Detroit is now 0-4 at home these last two seasons in the playoffs. Pretty wild!
 
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