AUBURN HILLS – If the Pistons are to make the playoffs, chances are this is the week that will launch them. They’ve got four straight home games after a rugged four-week stretch that’s seen them take four-, four- and three-game trips, spending 21 days on the road.
But nothing will come easy. Among their four opponents, the Pistons get the No. 1 team in the East (Milwaukee), the No. 2 team in the West (Denver). Dallas is the only team of the four without a winning record and the Mavericks just beat the Pistons by five points on their home court.
The Pistons, 13-11 in 24 games at Little Caesars Arena, will get a day off between each of the four games, a rhythm coaches and players always find most comfortable.
The Pistons are 21-27 with nearly 60 percent of the season completed and stand two games out of the final playoff berth in the East in ninth place overall in the conference. Five playoff berths are virtually locked up already: Milwaukee, Toronto, Indiana, Philadelphia and Boston. The Celtics, 30-19, are 8½ games ahead of the Pistons as the current No. 5 seed.
That leaves six teams – Brooklyn, Miami, Charlotte, the Pistons, Washington and Orlando – fighting for the final three berths. With 34 games remaining for the Pistons and only so many more chances to scratch out wins, it’s time to make a move. The four-game home stand is as good a time as any.
“All games are critical,” Dwane Casey said after Sunday’s practice. “Each time we walk out should be critical. It should be a sense of urgency, a sense of desperation. The hunger, the intensity on all of us, myself on down to our equipment manager, should feel a sense of urgency. If not, we’re in the wrong business.”
Here’s a look at the six teams scrapping for the final three playoff berths:
- Brooklyn – The Nets, 27-23, have gone 19-5 since sitting at 8-18 following an eight-game losing streak that ended on Dec. 5. One of the biggest impetuses in their turnaround, ex-Pistons point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, is due to undergo thumb surgery on Monday and expected to miss three to six weeks. The Nets have 15 home games left, 17 on the road and close the season with nine of 13 on the road, including a seven-game road trip that stretches over two weeks. The Pistons are 1-1 against Brooklyn this season – losing in overtime at Brooklyn on Oct. 31 – and play the Nets just once more, at Brooklyn on March 11.
- Miami – The Heat, like Brooklyn, turned it around after a slow start. They were 9-14 in early December but have gone 14-10 since and done most of that without Goran Dragic, who underwent knee surgery in late December. He should be back sometime after the All-Star break. The Heat and Pistons have split two games, both at Little Caesars Arena. The Pistons play at Miami in February and again in March. Like Brooklyn, Miami closes the season with nine of 13 on the road. The Heat have 17 home games remaining of their last 35 games.
- Charlotte – The Hornets, 23-25, are the team the Pistons will have to leapfrog to make the playoffs. One red flag: Charlotte already owns the tiebreaker over the Pistons, have won all three games played so far in the series. The Pistons play at Charlotte on April 7 to complete their season series. The Hornets expect to get Cody Zeller, an underrated piece of their puzzle for his defense and screening/rim running, back sometime next month from a broken hand. The Hornets have 17 home, 17 road games remaining, but their closing stretch includes a four-game Western road swing that starts in late March plus a home-and-home with Toronto among their final 10 games.
- Washington – The Wizards opened the season 1-7 but have played better of late, winning eight of 12 to pull even with the Pistons at 21-27, helped by their 14-point win on Martin Luther King Jr. Day last week. Washington seemed to get a bounce out of losing John Wall to injury for the season, though whether that can be sustained remains to be seen. The Wizards are without Dwight Howard and Markieff Morris with uncertainty over their timetables. Much as Blake Griffin has carried the Pistons, Bradley Beal is putting up All-Star numbers for the Wizards. Each team has beaten the other on its home court with one game remaining in their series, Feb. 11 at Little Caesars Arena. Washington has 17 home, 17 road games remaining.
- Orlando – The Magic are in danger of falling out of the race, sitting at 20-29 and with only 15 home games left of their 33 remaining games. The Pistons are 2-1 against Orlando this season with the final game of their series coming March 28 at Little Caesars Arena. Orlando has lost nine of its last 12 games.