DETROIT — By the time the final buzzer sounded at Little Caesars Arena Friday, a decent portion of the lower bowl there to watch the Pistons play the Golden State Warriors had already funneled out to enjoy the rest of their night.
Rather than exiting unhappily from a subpar performance, which had become the norm in years past when Detroit was the laughingstock of the NBA, they left knowing their Pistons were cruising to yet another victory.
With a 115-101 win over the Warriors, Detroit (51-19) became the first team in the East to clinch a spot in the playoffs.
It was the latest milestone in a rapid two-year turnaround that has the Pistons on the doorstep of ascending from the conference’s worst team in 2023-24 to its best in the regular season in 2025-26.
Detroit found a way to notch its 51st win of the season without superstar Cade Cunningham (left lung pneumothorax), defensive anchor Isaiah Stewart (left calf strain), trade deadline acquisition Kevin Huerter (right shoulder contusion) and young guard Marcus Sasser (right hip soreness).
The Pistons’ rise from five consecutive seasons of winning 23 games or fewer to tallying a combined 95 victories in their last two campaigns is largely due to the tough, close-knit culture that coach J.B. Bickerstaff established.
“They’ve been a joy to coach. They’ve been one of the most connected teams I’ve ever been a part of,” Bickerstaff said after the win. “I feel fortunate every single day I get to come to work with these guys. Their spirit, their willingness to be coached, their want to do it together, their willingness to sacrifice for one another
“Their ability to just buy into the process of what we do every single day helps development, helps growth, keeps them focused. The spirit they play with every night is just different.”
Two seasons ago, the Pistons finished 14-68 and lost 28 straight games. They fired coach Monty Williams and brought in Bickerstaff, who’d just been let go by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Bickerstaff, like the group of players who endured the tumultuous season before, came into 2024-25 with something to prove.
The Pistons won 44 games last season, a 30-win improvement, and pushed the New York Knicks to six games in the first round of the playoffs. Now, Detroit sits atop the East with championship aspirations and a runway for sustained success.
The Pistons expected to take another step forward this season; their preseason over-under of 46.5 wins was tied with Atlanta for the fifth-highest in the conference. Instead, Detroit started the season 20-4 and has led the East since early November.
Cunningham, 24, was putting together an MVP-caliber season, averaging 24.5 points and 9.9 assists per game, before suffering a collapsed lung earlier this week. Jalen Duren, 22, made the All-Star team for the first time, while key youngsters like Ausar Thompson, Ron Holland and undrafted point guard Daniss Jenkins have become valuable rotation players. Jenkins, starting for the injured Cunningham, tallied 22 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists to lead Detroit over Golden State.
Duren finished with a game-high 23 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes. He’s in the middle of his highest-scoring month of the season, averaging 21.6 points on 67.2 percent from the field, 10.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks across 12 games in March.
“As a whole, (I’m most proud of) how the group responded to adversity,” Duren said after walking into the postgame news conference with a basketball in his hand. “The guys who were here my first two years that went through what we went through. To be here now, to fight through that, even the playoff loss last year, to come back in and use that as momentum to start the season. I’m just proud of how we keep battling, keep fighting.”
Thompson, who finished with eight points, a career-high seven steals, four assists, three rebounds and a block in the win, echoed Duren’s sentiments. His rookie season was the 14-win campaign that marked a franchise low.
“We just stuck with it,” Thompson said as he sat at his locker. “Even when we had 14 wins, we were trying to get better back then. We just progressively got better and better and better. Obviously, it’s a new team, but there are a lot of the same guys who were there for that and are still getting minutes.
Duncan Robinson, a 31-year-old off-guard acquired from the Miami Heat last summer, has stepped in and stretched the floor in the backcourt, as evidenced by his 40 percent 3-point shooting this season.
While the Pistons were languishing in the East’s basement, Robinson played on two Heat teams that made the NBA Finals. He sees similarities between this Pistons team and those squads in Miami that went to the Finals.
“Having an identity is a big piece,” Robinson said. “We know who we are, and we know what’s required night to night in order to win games. Having guys you can really rely on on a night-to-night basis. A guy like Cade, that’s your leader. (Duren) has obviously flourished into that role as well. So it’s fun, man.
In addition to their togetherness and depth, the Pistons have thrived because they have been able to combat complacency. They’ll have to continue to string wins together as Cunningham works his way back from his collapsed lung.
But they believe they’re fully capable of doing so, and it all stems from the mentality Bickerstaff has instilled in his group since he stepped foot in Detroit’s locker room two summer ago.
“A lot of people have a lot of expectations for us, but I like to sit back and think, ‘Wow, we’ve done a lot,’” Duren said. “Obviously, we’re not done. But from where we started until now, I’m proud of everyone that’s been part of it.”