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Detroit still holds the No. 1 seed in the East, but the margin is shrinking. As Boston surges and Jayson Tatum returns, J.B. Bickerstaff says the Pistons aren’t focused on the Celtics, only fixing their own slide.
The Detroit Pistons are still the Eastern Conference’s top team, but the standings are tightening. Detroit’s 121-110 loss to the Miami Heat on Sunday marked its fourth straight defeat, shrinking its lead over the surging Boston Celtics to just 2.5 games.
With the return of All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum from his ACL injury suffered last season during the playoffs, the Celtics have won their last two games, both by double figures. With less than 2o games left, the margin for error has lessened and Tatum’s return only adds to the newfound pressure for the Pistons as they enter final stretch of the regular season.
Detroit head coach J.B. Bickerstaff made it clear after Sunday’s loss that his team is not shifting its focus toward Boston just yet.
“Boston, obviously, is a good team, but we’re not concerned about Boston,” Bickerstaff said. “Our biggest concern is making sure that we’re doing what we need to do to go out and be as good as we possibly can.”
The message reflects Detroit’s approach throughout the season. Despite sitting atop the Eastern Conference standings for much of the year, the Pistons have consistently emphasized internal improvement over scoreboard watching.
Pistons Embracing Youth Movement
Despite their recent struggles, the Pistons’ young stars have taken major strides as the team has improved leaps and bounds since finishing 14-66 just two years ago.
Star point guard Cade Cunningham is now a two-time All-Star and firmly in the league MVP discussion while averaging 25.2 points, 9.8 assists and 5.8 rebounds. Cunningham also has the fifth most clutch points with 121 only behind Jamal Murray (122), Anthony Edwards (132), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (138) and Tyrese Maxey (143).
Cunningham is nursing a quad contusion that caused him to miss the game against the Brooklyn Nets, nonetheless he is spearheading a Pistons team with a borderline top-10 offense and top-3 defense. The first time that has happened for the franchise since the 2007-08 season in which ironically the Pistons fell to the aforementioned Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Pistons are seeing growth from a handful of others on the roster including Jalen Duren making his first All-Star team while averaging a double-double with 18.3 points and 10.8 rebounds. They also are getting surprising production from second-year guard Daniss Jenkins who has become a key piece off the bench this season after only appearing in seven games his rookie year.
Detroit is in unfamiliar territory as they have not finished as the top seed in the Eastern Conference since the 2007-08 season. But they are not letting the past shape the future and they’re not letting a few dropped games in early March cause them to question their talent.
“It’s the NBA, right? The season is long. Everybody goes through difficult times or a little bit of a rut. We just found ours right now,” Bickerstaff said. “And again, we’ve got plenty of time left to do what we’ve got to do.”
Tatum’s Return Is Worth Some Concern
While Detroit focuses inward, Boston’s trajectory is shifting upward at a crucial moment. The Celtics received a major boost Friday when Jayson Tatum returned to the lineup against the Dallas Mavericks. The All-NBA forward had spent nearly 10 months recovering from a torn Achilles tendon before making his long-awaited regular-season debut.
Even though Tatum is still working his way back into rhythm, his presence immediately raises Boston’s postseason ceiling.
For much of the season, Jaylen Brown has carried the Celtics’ offense while playing at an MVP-caliber level. With Tatum now back in the rotation alongside Derrick White and Boston’s deep supporting cast, the team suddenly looks far more dangerous heading into the playoffs.
From Detroit’s perspective, however, the regular-season matchup history still favors the Pistons. The teams met four times earlier this season, and Detroit won three of those games to secure the season series. That context helps explain Bickerstaff’s calm tone when discussing Boston’s surge.
Still, the competitive landscape in the East is shifting quickly. The Pistons have won just once in March after dominating much of the winter, and their recent skid has tightened the race for the conference’s top seed. Detroit’s challenge now is simple: stop the slide before the standings tighten further.
If the Pistons rediscover their form, the four-game slump may end up as little more than a late-season bump in the road. If not, Boston’s rise, powered by Tatum’s return, could reshape the Eastern Conference race in the final weeks of the regular season.
Jalon Dixon Jalon Dixon is a multi-platform sports journalist and content creator specializing in NBA and WNBA coverage. He blends writing, podcasting, and video analysis to deliver accessible, in-depth perspectives on basketball and beyond. More about Jalon Dixon
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