DETROIT, MI – The Detroit Pistons defeated the LA Clippers 106-97 in front of a loud home crowd. From national narrative to local buzz, the Pistons haven’t been this relevant in well over a decade. Coincidentally it’s also the last time, before now, they’ve had a 7-game winning streak.

That dates back to the Brandon Jennings lead Pistons squad that went on a 12-game run still talked about to this day. It was also the inception of the phrase “Form a F****** Wall”, which was bellowed out by Former coach Stan Van Gundy, affectionately known as SVG. He was drawing up a defensive scheme to ensure a victory, which has been a key to success this season.

The defense hasn’t been perfect, but it has been more connected, more physical, in the right positions and are proving opportunistic. Under current head coach JB Bickerstaff the Pistons are reminding some of the 2004 Going to Work era team. It was also promise he made at season opening media day, and the early results pass with flying colors.

And now the Pistons ship has set sail in the right direction, even faster than many expected possible. Except to those in that locker room.

“I expected playoffs since before the season started,” Jalen Duren stated when asked about the team’s expectations.

New Expectations

After winning just 31 games combined the last two seasons, they sit at 32-26 already with 24 games left this year. That is a remarkable jump spurred on by contributions from top to bottom.

Tom Gores choosing to move on from Monty Williams and Troy Weaver, and bring in Trajan Langdon kicked things into high gear. From there, Langdon was instrumental with filling out the new front office with some of the best personnel possible. But the biggest fish might’ve been the addition of JB Bickerstaff who’s helped turn around multiple NBA teams.

With Bickerstaff in place, a budding star in Cade Cunningham, and a host of other promising to good young players, it was paramount the roster around them be upgraded.

They drafted Ron Holland, signed a trio of vets and haven’t looked back after a rocky start to the season. Pistons began the year 0-4 and have gone 32-22 since, bolstered by an All-Star campaign by Cade Cunningham.

At this point All-Star may be an understatement as Cunningham’s name is now in the conversations for All-NBA and MVP top-10 considerations. And rightfully so as only Cunningham and MVP candidate Nikola Jokic have put up the averages of at least 26 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds.

In recent games Cunningham has shown a level even above that lofty production. And he might be just scratching the surface of his true ceiling in the NBA. He’s averaged 29.3 points, 10.1 assists and 5.6 rebounds in his last ten games. Despite the jump in volume, Cunningham’s efficiency has also risen with shooting splits of 50%FG/36%3PT/93.3%FT.

Award Winning Supporting Cast

Cade hasn’t been the only player responsible for the Pistons renaissance. Veterans Malik Beasley, Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway, Jr have proven to be the right supporting cast. After three seasons of Troy Weaver attempting to build around Cade, Langdon and company have surprised even themselves. During the NBA trade deadline press conference, Langdon said he expected improvement. But that this success has surpassed what he thought possible this year.

Beasley has been a steady scoring force off the bench which has him firmly within the 6th-Man of the Year award race. He’s averaged 16.6 points and been an absolute sniper from behind the arc. He’s up to 39% shooting from behind three on a career high 9.4 attempts per game.

His chemistry with Cade Cunningham and the Pistons has clicked so well, Beasley has requested to stay with the Pistons before the trade deadline. Beasley’s effectiveness as a shooter has opened up even more driving lines

But he hasn’t been the only one as third year big man Jalen Duren has taken a size-able leap forward. His start to the season left room for desire, but he acknowledged it and has been on a tear ever since. And Isaiah Stewart wasn’t going to be left out of the party. He’s been one of the best at protecting the paint and shots at the rim this season.

Keep Running

Cade Cunningham stated the Pistons post All-Star break goal is to “hit the ground running”. And in the three games since, they are 3-0 with a chance to really test their mettle against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, and the Denver Nuggets on Friday.