The Detroit Pistons are off to a dream start in the 2025-26 NBA season. The team is comfortably first in the Eastern Conference and has the second-best record in the league. Little more than a year ago, this would have been unthinkable for the franchise; the Pistons have enjoyed some incredible growth.

For many years, Detroit was simply treading water in the NBA. For five seasons in a row from 2019-20 to 2023-24, the Pistons won more than 20 games only once. Their highest win total in any of those seasons was 23. And this year, in just the first 30 games, the team has already surpassed that mark.

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From basketball purgatory to the top of the East.
24–6 🔥

No. 1 seed. No flukes.

The Detroit Pistons have officially gone from rebuild punchline to the NBA’s best story, blowing past the 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2024 seasons’ worth of win totals before Christmas even hits the… pic.twitter.com/HF7lUoGGvN

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 25, 2025

Cade Cunningham is averaging 26.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 9.4 assists per game. He’s leading Detroit in every way, which makes it easy to see why the team is doing so well. They are just two losses behind the league’s No. 1 team in terms of record; their improvement has been stunning.

Furthermore, Detroit will face just three teams with records over .500 in their next eight games. The team is likely to reach 30 wins before it reaches double-digit losses on the season. And as per Phil Jackson’s rule, if the Pistons get 40 wins before losing 20 games, they are officially championship contenders.

Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff talks with guard Cade Cunningham. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Pistons have already given their fans the best Christmas gift with such an explosive start to the season. Detroit’s epic growth no longer seems like a fluke. The aim this season will be to make a deep playoff run, and the sky is the limit for this team.

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