by
After the Detroit Pistons finished in first place in the Eastern Division, it wasn’t asking too much for them to make it past the first round of the playoffs. After all, the Orlando Magic finished in 8th place, while the Pistons were #1.
But now, with four games under their belt, they trail the Magic 3–1 in the series and are on the verge of elimination. The Magic look more like a 3rd or 4th seed, the Pistons more like a 9th seed that shouldn’t even be in the playoffs. (Yes, yes, people say the Magic had a lot of injuries during the season and are now back to full strength. Guess what? The Pistons had their share of injuries, with Cade Cunningham out for weeks, and they were still in first place.)
On Monday night, the Pistons lost 94–88, at the Kia Center in downtown Orlando.
It wasn’t a good night. To steal an overused phrase, the Pistons had more turnovers than the Pillsbury Doughboy. The Pistons, who outplayed and outworked so many other teams during the regular season—even when some of the teams were better—have vanished, have left the building.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment in the series has been center Jalen Duren, 22, who was a star during the season. But in the playoffs, he’s looked timid, outmatched, and simply lost. He has performed poorly. Guard Dannis Jenkins, who performed better than expected during the season, has underperformed.
Make no mistake: Orlando is a very good team. They have some bona fide stars. But Detroit has simply performed poorly. Tobias Harris has done well, and so have Ausar Thompson and, at times, Duncan Robinson.
All that being said, there’s no heartbreak here. It was clear from Game One that there might be problems ahead in the playoffs.
At this point, sure, they could still win—but it’s not likely. The playoffs have exposed the Pistons for what they are: still short two star players.
The next game is Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Little Caesars Arena. Even if they don’t win the series, it would be nice to win one for the home crowd.
Detroit fans, who have had their hearts broken by the Tigers, Red Wings and Lions, deserve that much.
