Last year, the Detroit Pistons had 40 regular season games that were decided by a single-digit margin
Throughout the summer, the NBA’s power dynamic swung in favor of the Eastern Conference as several teams retooled their squads for what should be an ultra-competitive race for the top seed. Even though the Detroit Pistons secured that position last season, the Miami Heat added Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer, LeBron James signed with the Philadelphia 76ers and it looks like Kawhi Leonard is still heading to the Toronto Raptors after his cap circumvention saga.
On top of those major moves, the Boston Celtics traded Jaylen Brown to bolster the Sixers squad, and Tyrese Haliburton should be fully healthy for the start of the regular season after so much time away from the court. All together, the Eastern Conference is quite deep with possibly double-digit teams that would qualify for the postseason in any other year.
So, if the Pistons want to retain the top seed in the East for the second consecutive season, they’ll need to fend off a laundry list of quality opponents while remaining healthy and approaching each contest with victorious intent. During the 2025-26 campaign, that was a strength for the Pistons when they faced so many teams that were content resting starters for load management during the course of the regular season. Unlike others, the Pistons took each game seriously and attempted to put their best foot forward no matter the circumstances.
With their business-like approach, Detroit seized control of the No. 1 position in the Eastern Conference early on in November and kept a vice grip on the top seed all the way up until the postseason. The Pistons won 60 games for only the third time in franchise history, and a major reason Detroit was able to accomplish that milestone was because the team kicked into a more urgent level during close games.
Out of the Pistons’ 20 losses last year, 14 of those games were ultimately decided by a single-digit margin. In the modern NBA where a 10-point lead can evaporate in the blink of an eye, any contest within single digits is still well within striking distance, so the Pistons were only thoroughly throttled in six matchups last season.
On the other side of the coin, Detroit was able to produce a single-digit win on 26 occasions last season, which means that if a game was going to come down to the wire, there was a strong chance that Cade Cunningham was going to win it for the Pistons since that’s what happened 65% of the time.
Once Detroit reached the playoffs, the Pistons were able to use their experience in tight contests during a highly competitive seven-game series with the Orlando Magic in the first round. But by that point, Jalen Duren’s postseason decline was hurting the squad, and the Pistons didn’t have enough perimeter shooters required outside of Duncan Robinson in order to properly supply Cunningham from a weapons perspective. In the end, the Pistons’ success in close games didn’t matter during game seven of the Eastern Conference Semifinals when the Cleveland Cavs blew out Detroit inside Little Caesars Arena.
To prevent that type of demise in the future, the Pistons added four quality three-point shooting veterans during the offseason in John Collins, Isaiah Joe, Taurean Prince and Gary Harris, so Detroit should have a lot more floor spacing and perimeter gravity for the upcoming campaign.
