Betrayer

Remember at the start of the season when JB said he wasn't setting any expectations for the season except that fans would be able to tune in to this team in February or March and see "Piston's basketball"? The man didn't lie.

Brutal schedule incoming, so we could wind up in 6th pretty easily. I'd be happy with winning 1 out of the next 3 and they may not even get that (CLE, @MIN, OKC). Be careful what you wish for though, because Indy could pass New York as well. Last 3 games are against the Knicks and Bucks x2. It'll be interesting to see how much could shift with those games or if seeding is locked and they just roll out the reserves.

MVP.

Great showing by Sasser, but we already knew what he was - a scorer who can get his own. Problem is he's not much more than that and he's undersized. Makes it really tough to find a spot in the rotation for him. More importantly, the Pistons are now at least .500 on the season and they're 1 win away from doing something nobody has ever done - tripling their win total from the previous season. Not only that, the few teams that have exceeded the Pistons single season turnaround in games won have done so by adding a Hall of Fame player. The Pistons added 3 vets who've never even been to an All-Star game and also lost their 2nd best scorer in early January. Atkinson will win CoY because that's been the narrative all season, but the Cavs won't hit the 70 games people were predicting and they won't even have the best record in the league.

Wow, I'm more surprised that THJ is available than Cade sitting out. Dude looked like he would be done for 4-6 weeks and was in a boot after the game.

Maybe they'll catch the Knicks for 3rd and we'll catch the Bucks for 5th. Those two games at the end of the season could be big ones for seeding.

I agree that JB is a grind it out coach. Perfect for a young team but not necessarily that deep playoff strategic guy. I'm also sure it won't matter at all this year. This is a young team with only one All-Star and a lot of flaws to exploit. They're punching above their weight and that's a credit to JB in the regular season, but it's also why they'll struggle come playoff time. I'm not sure there's much JB can do about that either way.

I don’t want to hear JB step to the podium and talk about defense when he only plays Ausar 16 minutes in this game. Spacing is important, but your best offense is transition. Ironic that they showed a stat at the beginning of the game talking about how good the Piston’s record is when Ausar plays over 22 mpg and then this happens.

At this point I'm not sure which matchup is best. Bucks - We just can't beat Giannis and Lopez turns into Dirk when they play us, so maybe this is the worst matchup. Pacers - Carlisle is a great strategic coach and we're a young team with only one star, so we can be exploited. They're also capable of playing very good defense when they want to with some guys that really trouble Cade. Not to mention a stretch big that shoots lights-out against Duren. Also one or both of Stew and Holland will likely get ejected or suspended. Knicks - We have the best regular season record against them, but this is the playoffs and the NBA wants the Knicks in the second round for ratings. You'll be playing 5 on 9 (including the refs and Adam Silver) and watching Brunson shoot 25 free throws every game.

The Pacers just keep pulling out these close wins.

This felt like a loss waiting to happen. On the road against a Miami team that's well coached and fired up to break a losing streaking. And Miami played like it too - they were hitting everything. Yet, the Pistons pulled it out. Great team win with everyone contributing. Loved watching Ausar lock up Herro. The drop off in perimeter defense is huge when he goes to the bench. Duren got cooked a lot on defense and probably shouldn't even have been in the game to foul Herro at the end in a situation where you can swap defense for offense, but he had some really nice moments on the offensive end throughout the game and JB likes to show confidence in his guys. Great to see Cade hit the buzzer beater on a national stage. Sure, maybe it was a lucky shot, but I feel like we're due some of those after the buzzer beaters we've been hit with this season. Edit: I should also mention Holland who was clutch in his minutes off the bench. Great defense and some nice offensive touch on his drives.

Been saying it all year, but Stew should be averaging more than 19 minutes per game. I'd like to see him closer to 25, especially once the playoffs start.

Hopefully we don't let our guard down like we did against the Wizards when we see this team again in a few days. Big stretch here with some weaker opponents coming up: Miami, Dallas, New Orleans (again), and Spurs. You have to win all of those because after that it's Cleveland, Minnesota, OKC.

Except they announced a couple weeks ago that the 30 minute restriction had been lifted, so that's not the reason.

They'll go back to the Jaden Ivey staggered minutes. I don't love that answer, but that's what I'm expecting.