MIAMI (AP) \u2014 A week ago, the Detroit Pistons were flying high. Winners in eight of their last nine games and 5 1\/2 games clear of Boston in the Eastern Conference, they looked well on their way to becoming a No. 1 seed.<\/p>\n
kAmw6==@[ 25G6CD:EJ] %96 !:DE@?DV D62D@?\\H@CDE =@D:?8 DEC62< C624965 7@FC 82>6D @? $F?52J ?:89E[ H96? E96J 76== k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@>^2CE:4=6^A:DE@?D\\962E\\D4@C6\\he75f2ad25gc52a52`e3h2e722eda_4bQm`a`\\“_ E@ E96 |:2>: w62Ek^2m \u2014 2?5 E92E 4@>7@CE23=6 =625 2E@A E96 t2DE @G6C E96 r6=E:4D \ud83d\ude00 5@H? E@ 2 >6C6 a `^a 82>6D]k^Am<\/p>\n
kAm\u201cxE\u2019D E96 }qp[ C:89En p?5 J@F =@@< 2E E96 D62D@?[ :EVD =@?8[\u201d !:DE@?D 4@249 y]q] q:4<6CDE277 D2:5] \u201ctG6CJ3@5J 8@6D E9C@F89 5:77:4F=E E:>6D @C 8@6D E9C@F89 2 =:EE=6 3:E @7 2 CFE] p?5 H6 ;FDE 7@F?5 @FCD C:89E ?@H] p?5 282:?[ H6VG6 8@E A=6?EJ @7 E:>6 =67E E@ 5@ H92E H6 8@E E@ 5@] q@DE@?[ @3G:@FD=J[ \ud83d\ude00 2 8@@5 E62>] qFE H6\u2019C6 ?@E 4@?46C?65 23@FE q@DE@?] ~FC 3:886DE 4@?46C? \ud83d\ude00 >2<:?8 DFC6 H6VC6 5@:?8 H92E H6 ?665 E@ 5@ E@ 8@ @FE 2?5 36 2D 8@@5 2D H6 A@DD:3=J 42?]\u201dk^Am<\/p>\n
kAmq67@C6 E9:D DEC6E49[ s6EC@:EVD =@?86DE =@D:?8 DEC62< @7 E96 D62D@? H2D EH@ 82>6D] %96 !:DE@?D H6C6 `a\\a :>>65:2E6=J 27E6C 2 =@DD] vC2?E65[ E9C66 @7 E96 7@FC =@DD6D \ud83d\ude15 E9:D DEC62< H6C6 282:?DE 8@@5 E62>D \u2014 r=6G6=2?5[ $2? p?E@?:@ 2?5 ?@H |:2>: \u2014 H:E9 $2EFC52JVD =@DD 282:?DE qC@@<=J? E96 =@?6 @FE=:6C]k^Am<\/p>\n
kAmq:4<6CDE277 D66D :E 2D A2CE @7 E96 AC@46DD] ‘6E6C2? 7@CH2C5 %@3:2D w2CC:D 5@6D?VE 5:D28C66]k^Am<\/p>\n
kAm\u201c~3G:@FD=J[ :EVD AC@323=J @FC 3:886DE 5@D6 @7 25G6CD:EJ 2== J62C[\u201d w2CC:D D2:5] \u201c(6\u2019== 36 7:?6] z66A @FC 9625 9:89 2?5 ;FDE W>@G6X @? E@ E96 ?6IE] qFE 2=@?8 E9:D H2J[ 2=@?8 E9:D ;@FC?6J[ =6EVD 7:8FC6 @FE H2JD E92E H6 42? 36 36EE6C 2D 2 8C@FA]\u201dk^Am<\/p>\n
kAms6EC@:EVD C:D6 7C@> E96 }qp 32D6>6?E EH@ J62CD 28@ 42?VE 36 F?56CDE2E65] %96 !:DE@?D H6C6 `c\\eg \ud83d\ude15 a_ab\\ac 2?5 E96? H@? cc 82>6D 2?5 >256 E96 A=2J@77D =2DE D62D@?] %96J 92G6 2=C625J H@? cd 82>6D E9:D D62D@? H:E9 `h C6>2:?:?8]k^Am<\/p>\n
kAm|@DE @7 E96 A=2J6CD 7C@> E92E `c\\H:? E62> 2C6 =@?8 8@?6] r256 rF??:?892> 2?5 y2=6? sFC6? \u2014 H9@ 4@>3:?65 7@C d_ A@:?ED @? $F?52J \u2014 2C6 2>@?8 E96 76H 9@=5@G6CD[ 2?5 s6EC@:E \ud83d\ude00 3F:=5:?8 2C@F?5 E96>]k^Am<\/p>\n
kAm\u201c%96J\u2019G6 3F:=E 2 4F=EFC6 G6CJ BF:4<=J 2?5 E96 J@F?8 A=2J6CD E92E E96J\u2019G6 925 E92E H6C6 2C@F?5 EH@ J62CD 28@ C62==J FD6 E92E 2D 7F6= 2?5 >@E:G2E:@?[\u201d w62E 4@249 tC:< $A@6=DEC2 D2:5] \u201cqFE :E\u2019D 92C5 E@ H:? \ud83d\ude15 E9:D =628F6 \ud83d\ude15 86?6C2=] xE \ud83d\ude00 6G6? >@C6 @7 2 492==6?86 E@ H:? H96? J@F 92G6 2 =@E @7 J@F?8 A=2J6CD] qFE x E9:?< rF??:?892> 2?5 sFC6? 2C6 H:C65 2 =:EE=6 3:E 5:776C6?E=J E92? >@DE J@F?8 A=2J6CD]\u201dk^Am<\/p>\n
kAmw2CC:D D2:5 E92EVD 2 EC6?5 E9C@F89@FE E96 C@@>] w6VD E96 G6E[ E96 @=56DE A=2J6C @? E96 C@DE6C[ 3FE >256 4=62C E92E E9:D !:DE@?D E62> 92D E96 >2EFC:EJ E@ 92?5=6 2 C@F89 DEC6E49]k^Am<\/p>\n
kAm\u201cx? E96 =@4<6C C@@>[ :E\u2019D ?@E 2 ;@<:?8\\2C@F?5 >6?E2=:EJ[\u201d w2CC:D D2:5] \u201c(6 @H H6\u2019C6 DFAA@D65 E@ H:?[ 3FE H6 @H E92E H6 AFE E96 H@C< 2?5 E:>6 :?E@ :E] $@[ E9:?8D 2C6 8@:?8 E@ H@C< \ud83d\ude15 @FC 72G@C] (6V== 7:8FC6 :E @FE[ 2?5 H6\u2019== 36 C:89E 324< @? 2 H:??:?8 DEC62< 2?5 36 C625J[ 86E C625J 7@C E96 A=2J@77D]\u201dk^Am<\/p>\n
k9C ^m<\/p>\n
kAmp! }qpi k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@>^9F3^}qpQm9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@>^9F3^}qpk^2mk^Am<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI (AP) \u2014 A week ago, the Detroit Pistons were flying high. Winners in eight of their last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648652,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3773],"tags":[7,296,188,3860,1711,6,297],"class_list":{"0":"post-648651","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-pistons","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-detroit","10":"tag-detroit-pistons","11":"tag-detroitpistons","12":"tag-national_sports","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-pistons"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116198599800020584","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}