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. But 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 Golden State 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 going from the conference’s worst team in 2023-24 to its best in the regular season in 2025-26.
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), Detroit still found a way to notch its 51st win of the season.
The Pistons’ rise from five consecutive seasons winning 23 games or fewer to tallying a combined 95 victories in their last two campaigns is largely due to the culture coach J.B. Bickerstaff established.
Two seasons ago, the Pistons went 14-68 and lost 28 games in a row. They fired coach Monty Williams and brought in Bickerstaff, who’d just been let go by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Both Bickerstaff and the group of players who endured the tumultuous season before came into 2024-25 with something to prove.
They 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 now sits atop the East with championship aspirations and is focused on sustaining this level of success.
When asked before the game what it’d mean to be the first team in the conference to clinch a postseason berth, Bickerstaff wasn’t even aware his team was on the verge of doing so.
“It’s funny, I didn’t even know that was the case,” Bickerstaff laughed. “We just don’t think about those things. You take the summer and the end of the year to think about those things. … It’s obviously a great thing, don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to be dismissive about it. It shows the growth, it shows the improvement, all the small things.
“It’s a credit to the organization from top to bottom because it’s not just one facet of the organization that wins. It’s entire organizations that win. The time that’s been put in here, so many different people in so many different ways, has all come together in this plan and put us in the position we’re in now.”
This story will be updated.