Success is something that isn’t seen very often for Detroit sports, especially the Detroit Pistons, who haven’t made a deep playoff run in over 20 years. With multiple lottery (top 12) picks over the last five years, the Pistons had work to do to become a top contender in the Eastern Conference. Although the Pistons seemed to be on the rise at the end of last season, finishing as the sixth seed in the East, and lost in a six-game series to the New York Knicks, fans still felt underwhelmed by their chances going into the future.
Heading into this season, fans were nervous about a similar season as years prior, starting the year 2-2. However, shocking the league, the Pistons would go on a 13-game win streak, taking a strong grip of first place in the East. Lifelong superfan Jack Horrocks ’26 is thrilled with the results, crediting the success to not only the starters but the bench players filling in for injuries.
“It’s crazy to think that the Pistons were able to tie a franchise record after setting a league record losing streak two years ago,” Horrocks said. “But what’s even crazier is that they were able to do it with all bench players for some of the games due to the starters being injured.”
Throughout the win streak that lasted 13 games, many players have been showing massive improvements from last year for the Pistons. South freshman football coach Luke Davey was very impressed with Point Guard Cade Cunningham and Center Jalen Duren’s performances to start the year.
“Duren has been averaging nearly 20 points this year for Detroit,” Davey said. “That’s over eight points higher than last year. Not to mention, Cade has become a frontrunner for MVP this year after averaging nearly 30 points.”
Although most fans are overjoyed that the Pistons are so far ahead this year, Grady Deenik ’26 is gloomy about the chance to continue this success until the end of the season.
“I think we have a very solid team, but I think it’s too early to tell if we’re contenders for the championship, and we should wait until after the New Year,” Deenik said. “But if they keep finding ways to win, there’s no doubt they can’t do something special when the playoffs come around.”
