DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Pistons have rebuilt their franchise in two years, coming back from one of the worst stretches in NBA history to earn top seeding in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Oddsmakers, though, are not expecting them to make a deep run,
The Pistons trail Boston, Cleveland and New York as favorites to win the East and are behind six teams in the league projected to win the the NBA championship.
“We’ve always been underdogs," Pistons
power forward Isaiah Stewart said. “We're still hunting. We like that.”
Detroit will host the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic at home on Sunday night.
The Pistons have not opened a postseason series at home since 2008, which is also the last year they advanced in the playoffs and the last time they won a playoff game in the Motor City.
Detroit's 10-game home postseason losing streak is the longest in league history, one more setback than Philadelphia endured from 1968 to 1971. The drought dates to a win over Boston in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills on May 26, 2008.
The Magic, meanwhile, earned a spot in the playoffs the hard way this week.
They lost at Philadelphia 109-97 in a play-in game on Wednesday and routed Charlotte 121-90 at home on Friday night.
“You either had a chance to end your season, or you start a new one,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “These guys made the commitment to each other, to our staff, that we want to keep playing basketball.”
Orlando also is shooting to advance in the playoffs for the first time in a while.
The Magic have been eliminated in the first round two straight years and six times since reaching the 2010 Eastern Conference finals.
Detroit was in the playoffs last year for the first time since 2019 and ended a league-record, 15-game postseason losing streak before being eliminated by the New York Knicks in Game 6.
The three-time, championship-winning franchise set the NBA's single-season losing streak two years ago when they led the league in losses for a second straight season.
Pistons wing Ausar Thompson, one of the NBA's top defenders, said the team has higher expectations for this postseason than anyone does outside the organization.
“We believe not only can we come out of the East but win it all,” Thompson said.
The series matches up No. 1 overall picks from two straight years.
Detroit drafted Cade Cunningham in 2021. The point guard will likely make an All-NBA team for the second year in a row, winning an appeal to be eligible after falling one game short of the league's 65-game rule.
Cunningham, who has always scored and set up teammates with savvy play, has steadily improved defensively to potentially defend any position.
“He’s an all-around basketball player that can impact the game on both ends of the floor,” said Detroit's J.B. Bickerstaff, who was named coach of the year by the National Basketball Coaches Association on Friday.
Orlando selected Paolo Banchero in 2022. After the forward was voted Rookie of the Year and a 2024 All-Star, he averaged a career-high 25.9 points last season. Banchero had career highs in field goal percentage and rebounds per game this year.
Banchero made more than half of his attempts and scored 25 points against the Hornets, bouncing back after missing 15 of 22 shots and turning the ball over six times in a loss the 76ers that put the Magic on the brink of elimination.
“Great players, you know, you’ve got to respond,” he said. “That’s what they pay you to do.”
The Pistons and Magic split their four-game season series, usually matching up when at least one team was missing a key player.
Defensively, they struggled to slow down the opposing star in three games.
Cunningham, who missed the last matchup earlier this month recovering from a collapsed lung, had 39 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists in one game and combined for 59 points and 21 assists in the two other games.
Banchero averaged 26.3 points — four more than his season average — in three games. He missed one matchup with a groin strain.
Detroit and Orlando have physical, defensive-minded teams that led them to making less than 51% of shots in each of the four games during the regular season.
“Orlando has big, physical guys that can get to the free throw line a ton and put a ton of stress on your paint, whether it’s in drives or offensive rebounding,” Bickerstaff said. "They use that size and length on the defensive end of the floor as well. They’ll be physical with you, pressure you, and make it difficult.”
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
