Coming into the season, I had one giant concern with the Detroit Pistons.
It wasn’t the loss of Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr. or Dennis Schroder.
It wasn’t the lack of major additions this offseason.
It was that last year was a fluke. Or rather, flukey.
The massive jump the Pistons made from the Monty Williams Disaster Class two years ago to last season’s playoff revival was amazing. It was the most fun I’ve had as a fan of this team in, checks notes, 20 or so years. But I couldn’t shake that feeling
of fluke.
Everything just fell so perfectly in place. It was like a game of Tetris where you got the perfect piece and it gently fell into place and cleared the board. Everything went right. The pieces fit. Perfectly. It honestly just felt too good to be true, because this franchise has conditioned us to expect the worst.
Yet here we are, coming off a great win in Philadelphia over the 76ers. Sure, Joel Embiid was out, but he’s always out. The Pistons were without all of their power forwards. They lost their best, and maybe only, shooter for most of the second half due to fouls in Duncan Robinson.
But they found a way. They locked in. They executed. That last defensive sequence was art. Sure, Tyrese Maxey got off a shot at the end, but as our friend Laz Jackson so aptly pointed out, he was pooping himself that entire time because the three-headed monster of Ausar Thompson, Ron Holland and Javonte Green had him spiraling.
I’ve watched that clip 15 times. I f*cking loved it every, single, time.
The Pistons are better than they were last year. They’re first in the Eastern Conference, albeit with a weaker schedule to open the season. This defense, whether they have one of the best defenders in the league — Isaiah Stewart — on the floor or not.
They just fit. They work. The lineup at the end of that game was one of the worst offensive lineups they could have fielded. It wouldn’t have worked last season, but this season it does. Ausar was aggressive, maybe too selfish at times, but he was a release valve when the Cade Cunningham-Jalen Duren screen game wasn’t working.
The pull-up jumper he hit with a few minutes to go is a shot he would never have considered last season. Greg Kelser called it out during the game, but Ausar had the look from three, but he took his time and dribbled into a mid-range jumper he knew he could hit.
It was just a masterful finish, a mature game. That’s my biggest takeaway through nine games.
The Pistons were a young, stupid team two years ago.
They are a mature team now. That’s the next step. That’s how you go from a spunky, fun playoff loss to earning home-court advantage. I think Cade has taken another step into the top 10 players in the game. I think Duren, Ausar and Ron Holland have taken leaps — not just in terms of skill, but as basketball players.
The Pistons are on the right path. They have a legitimate chance at a top four seed, maybe even top three.
Their maturity in overcoming slow start, finishing close games and beating the teams they should are all signs that we’re in for something significant this season.
Buckle up.
