The Detroit Pistons will enter the postseason on a three-game winning streak after their 133-121 win over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night
The Detroit Pistons ended the 2025-26 regular season on a three-game win streak after defeating the Indiana Pacers by a 133-121 margin in their own building, and that brief heater featured a laundry list of milestones and accomplishments for this group of Motown hoopers.
For Paul Reed, the former second-round pick turned in an offensive performance in place of Jalen Duren against the Pacers that will go down in the Detroit history books for its efficiency. Reed, who posted 26 points on the night, did not miss a single one of his 11 shots versus Indiana in a peerless shooting performance for the player affectionately referred to as B-Ball Paul.
“My teammates were just finding me and giving me the ball in positions where they knew I could go score and be effective,” Reed said after the game. “I wasn’t out there trying to force anything, just trying to play the ball, play basketball the right way.”
In addition to Reed’s flawless shooting night, the reserve center-- who was thrust into the starting lineup with an injured Jalen Duren-- also logged three steals and three blocks in a standout two-way effort that helped Detroit secure a 4-0 season sweep over their Central Division rivals. Reed’s 11 shots without a miss are the most in a single game in franchise history, which is fitting since it comes on a night where the Pistons reached the 60-win threshold for just the third time as a franchise.
“It’s a huge accomplishment for us,” Reed said. “I think we know that we have a lot of room where we can improve, but I think reaching 60 wins is a big step forward for us, and it’s cool.”
Since the Pistons are slated to enter the postseason as the one seed in the East, Detroit will have five consecutive days throughout the week to rest up before the NBA Playoffs begin in earnest on Saturday. During that stretch, Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff will help prep Detroit for whoever they face in the first round after the play-in games are complete.
“I think he’s been a perfect coach for us because he fights for us,” Reed said. “It’s not like he’s fighting against us. He’s trying to put us all in positions to be successful and when we’re out there on the court playing, I feel like we all feed off that energy and we all want to go out there and play hard for him, and he wants to go out there and coach hard for us, so it’s a good balance.”
As Reed alluded to, the Pistons have adopted that mentality with Bickerstaff as their leader, and he’s supplied Detroit with the tools to become one of the most stringent defenses in the league. But moving forward, the Pistons will need to prove that their style of play can transition into the postseason when rotations shrink and both space and time to operate on offense disappears.
The Pistons received a taste of what playoff basketball feels like last year against the New York Knicks, but this Detroit team is looking to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals when early June rolls around.
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