The Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks are tied in the playoffs, 1-1, and one NBA legend doesn’t think anything can faze Detroit.
On April 24, the Eastern Conference first round will head to the Motor City, where the Detroit Pistons will host the New York Knicks. The sixth-seeded Pistons tied up the series in Madison Square Garden thanks to a masterclass from Cade Cunningham, stealing home court away from the favored Knicks.
Heading into the series, some pundits gave the Pistons a decent chance to upset the Knicks, although New York was always the betting favorite.
The Pistons, after winning only 14 games last season, likely would have been thrilled with the prospect of simply making the play-in tournament, and now they have a prime chance to win their first playoff series since 2008.
“House money” has been a term that has been tossed around to describe the Pistons’ playoff appearance. With a shocking postseason berth, the Pistons now have absolutely nothing to lose, as they have already established themselves as a dominant team of the future.
“Right now, they may not feel the pressure the Knicks feel because of expectations, but if it gets close at the end of the series, they’re going to feel that,” said Steve Nash.
“Their cycle as a team is earlier, let’s say, than the Knicks. They have guys that are like Cade, you know, three, four years in the league that are yet to kind of earn their stripes and scars in the playoffs. Now he’s an elite player. So that’s one reason why they’re so successful.”
With 21 and 33-point outings in his first two playoff games, Cunningham has established himself as a superstar, although the Pistons did a great job of finally surrounding him with complementary talent.
“The key players around them, a lot of them are young guys,” Nash continued. “Now they got a couple of vets, Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway, but like that’s a team that’s on the ascent.
“So it is house money in a respect, but like they are talented enough. If they haven’t found a way of playing, you know, under coach Bickerstaff where they like, they can win the series. It’s just a matter of like, how hard does New York make it for them?”
Regardless of how the first round goes, the season has been a massive success for Detroit. First-year head coach JB Bickerstaff and first-year GM Trajan Langdon have finally given Detroit Basketball a culture worth celebrating, and as teams like the Milwaukee Bucks and perhaps even the Knicks descend in coming seasons, the Pistons are expected to become a postseason staple.
After he suffered a broken leg, the Pistons have been better without Jaden Ivey in the lineup. With Ivey suddenly expendable and some draft capital to work with, the Pistons could be major players this offseason.
Langdon and Bickerstaff spent the season molding the Pistons into a premier destination, and basketball is finally back in the Motor City with nowhere to go but up, no matter what happens in the coming games.
