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Coach J.B. Bickerstaff and the Pistons have sat atop the Eastern Conference standings for most of the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON \u2014 The Detroit Pistons know questions will follow them until they win a playoff series. Until they make a run befitting a top-tier team in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n
How can a roster that has never won a playoff series go from a first-round exit in one season \u2013 a loss to the New York Knicks in 2025<\/a> \u2013 to a deep playoff run the next season?<\/p>\n They believe they can answer with positive results when the playoffs begin next month.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing through the season, just seeing how we\u2019re unique as a team and how we beat teams and how we\u2019ve gotten to where we are now,\u201d Pistons All-Star center Jalen Duren said after scoring a career-high 36 points in a 130-117 victory<\/a> against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Under second-year coach J.B. Bickerstaff, the Pistons recorded their first 50-win season since they went 59-23 in 2007-08. They have been in first place since early November, buoyed by a franchise-best 13 consecutive victories, and are four games ahead of the second-place Boston Celtics (plus, Detroit owns the tiebreaker there).<\/p>\n Complicating the Pistons\u2019 push for the No. 1 seed is All-Star guard Cade Cunningham\u2019s collapsed lung<\/a>. Cunningham, 24, sustained the injury in the first quarter against the Wizards on Tuesday<\/a> and is out at least two weeks. The Pistons are hopeful he will be ready for the playoffs.<\/p>\n \u201cTough for Cade to go through what he\u2019s going through now \u2014 how important he is to the team, but how important being with his team is to him,\u201d Bickerstaff said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t make it easy. He\u2019s a huge part of what we do from a leadership standpoint. Obviously, the talent\u2019s there, but just being around him every single day makes people\u2019s days better. And we\u2019ll miss that.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s our responsibility to keep pushing forward. And we know he\u2019s there rooting for us, pulling for us. When he\u2019s around, he\u2019ll be cheering for us, help coaching, leading, all those things.\u201d<\/p>\n The Pistons were built via a combination of the draft, trades and free agency and are anchored by Cunningham, Duren, a deep roster blending youth and veterans \u2014 and Bickerstaff. His connection to the players has helped turn the Pistons into a contender \u2013 and made that NBA record-tying 28-game losing streak<\/a> seem like more than two seasons ago.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you without confidence?\u201d said Duren, who averages 19 points and 10.6 rebounds per game.<\/p>\n Strong season built on defense<\/p>\n Center Jalen Duren’s 36-point game helped key Detroit’s recent win in Washington.<\/p>\n The Pistons have beaten the Celtics, Houston Rockets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder this season, and they have the best record (13-6) against the top 10 teams.<\/p>\n Through Wednesday\u2019s games, they are No. 2 in defense (109.2 points per 100 possessions), No. 8 in offense (116.9 points per 100 possessions) and No. 3 in net rating (at plus-7.8). They lead the league in steals (10.4 per game) and blocks (6.4 per game), are No. 1 in opponent turnovers (17 per game) and No. 2 in points off turnovers (21.5 per game).<\/p>\n \u201cA big picture thing for us is the goal to win the possession game,\u201d Bickerstaff said. \u201cIf you\u2019re getting steals, if you\u2019re getting blocks, it lowers the amount of shot attempts that people get. We try to limit that as best we possibly can.\u201d<\/p>\n The Pistons\u2019 renaissance is a treat for the franchise, the city and fans, with the redeeming blue-collar characteristics of the \u201cBad Boys\u201d and \u201cGoin\u2019 To Work\u201d teams that won titles in 1989<\/a>, 1990<\/a> and 2004<\/a>.<\/p>\n Still, concerns exist beyond Cunningham\u2019s injury. They rank 22nd in 3-point percentage and 28th in 3-pointers made per game. Do they have enough offense when Cunningham and Duren rest?<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s everybody taking up a little bit more,\u201d Bickerstaff said. \u201cYou\u2019re not going to be able to replace what he does individually. But collectively, if everybody just plays to the best of their abilities and plays to their strength and ticks it up a little bit more, collectively we can get the job done. And we\u2019ve proven that all year.\u201d<\/p>\n Forward Paul Reed and guards Daniss Jenkins, Marcus Sasser and Caris LeVert have provided some good minutes along with regulars like forwards Tobias Harris, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, Ron Holland II, guard-forward Javonte Green and forward\/center Isaiah Stewart. But replacing Cunningham\u2019s production \u2014 24.5 ppg, 9.9 apg, 5.6 rpg and 1.5 spg \u2014 isn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n Searching for a playoff series win<\/p>\n The absence of a playoff series victory looms largest for teams looking to go beyond the conference semifinals. The San Antonio Spurs, who haven\u2019t made the playoffs since 2019, are in a similar position.<\/p>\n Used to be, a team needed a series of setbacks season after season to learn what\u2019s required to win the conference and NBA Finals. The \u201cBad Boy\u201d era Pistons lived this. Unable to beat the Celtics in the 1985 and 1987 playoffs, they finally dispatched Boston in the 1988 Eastern Conference Finals \u2026 only to lose to the Lakers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. The Pistons beat the Lakers in the \u201989 Finals and the Portland Trail Blazers in the \u201990 Finals.<\/p>\n And Michael Jordan\u2019s Chicago Bulls lost to the Pistons in three consecutive playoffs (1988-90) before cracking the code and winning three consecutive titles (and six in eight seasons overall).<\/p>\n But there is emerging evidence, especially in today\u2019s NBA with roster changes and blossoming talent, that a team can learn how to win series after series in the moment.<\/p>\n The Oklahoma City Thunder had one playoff series victory with its current core before winning four series and the championship last season. Their team in the Finals, the Indiana Pacers, had not won a playoff series in three consecutive seasons before reaching the East Finals in 2024 and the NBA Finals in 2025.<\/p>\n Making a significant playoff leap is not unrealistic.<\/p>\n \u201cI trust in our work that we put in,\u201d Harris said. \u201cI trust in how we play, how hard we play as a team and our spirit, and I trust the depth of our team. And I trust that we got the right staff here and right personnel players and right personalities and leadership to be able to help us keep our minds right all throughout the playoffs. It\u2019s the way we play it all season.\u201d<\/p>\n Robinson, who played in the Finals for the Miami Heat in 2020 and 2023, has the most playoff experience with 70 games (three more than Harris).<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to learn, but that can happen in the regular season and that can happen in a playoff loss in the first round,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cObviously, I just got here this year, but a lot of these guys got a lot of experience from that series last year, playing in meaningful games, playing in do-or-die situations and experiencing the pain that comes with that.\u201d<\/p>\n Bickerstaff\u2019s influence apparent in 50-win season<\/p>\n The Pistons beat the Knicks twice in last season\u2019s playoff series \u2014 both times at Madison Square Garden. Bickerstaff brings old-school and new-school sensibilities to the job and instilled a defense-first mindset. His approach resonates with players.<\/p>\n \u201cHe established a culture and established an expectation for how he wanted us to play and what he wanted the team to look like,\u201d the 22-year-old Duren said. \u201cWe just tried to follow that to the best of our ability. When he came in as a proven coach, he fit the characteristics of the guys in the locker room first and foremost. From there, it just took off.\u201d<\/p>\n The son of longtime NBA coach and executive Bernie Bickerstaff, J.B. grew up watching the Pistons\u2019 \u201cBad Boys\u201d and Jordan\u2019s Bulls. He doesn\u2019t discount the learning process.<\/p>\n \u201cI do still believe that you have to have experience,\u201d Bickerstaff said. \u201cBut that experience that we had last year versus the Knicks is enough. That experience gave our guys an opportunity to understand exactly what playoff basketball looks like and how to win in the playoffs.<\/p>\n \u201cOur guys were able to go on the road and win two playoff games in the Garden, with all the allure that comes along with that and the pressures of the moment. That says our guys have what it takes to do it and then do it again. That\u2019s the thing that gives me such belief that we\u2019re capable of doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at jzillgitt@nba.com<\/a>, find his archive here<\/a> and follow him on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coach J.B. 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