the latest warning <\/a>coming from NBA analyst and Game Theory Podcast co-host Bryce Simon, who suggests Detroit could be on upset watch entering Round 1.<\/p>\nPistons on upset watch entering the playoffs<\/p>\n
In a recent discussion on the latest episode of the Game Theory Podcast, Simons and co-host Sam Vecenie were discussing potential first-round matchups in the East.<\/p>\n
When the possibility of a first-round battle between a healthy Philadelphia 76ers team and the Pistons came up, Simons made it clear that this scenario would be one that alarms him, especially if injured star Cade Cunningham still hasn’t returned to action.<\/p>\n
“I think there\u2019s a question coming up later\u2014I\u2019m not sure if we\u2019ll get to it\u2014but it\u2019s like, ‘Who\u2019s the biggest chance for a first-round upset?'” Simon said. “If Cade\u2019s not healthy, obviously Detroit is going to be, you know, a popular name to bring up.”<\/p>\n
“They\u2019ve honestly played well without Cade this year, but we know the playoffs are different. I feel pretty good about Detroit getting out of the first round if Cade is back in some capacity, but if Cade Cunningham\u2019s not back, I\u2019m a little more nervous.”<\/p>\n
And while no fan wants to admit it, this type of matchup could sound alarms on a potential upset.<\/p>\n
Detroit will need Cunningham back to make a run<\/p>\n
It feels obvious to say that the Pistons will need Cunningham back in the lineup if they truly hope to make a run towards the NBA Finals, but the harsh reality is Detroit will need their star guard back in the first-round if they hope to escape a tough matchup like the above.<\/p>\n
Detroit’s supporting cast has stepped up during his absence, but with the postseason being a different beast, it’s hard to fill the void the team’s top playmaker leaves behind, especially in a 7-game series.<\/p>\n
Perhaps all the doubt goes away when Cunningham is re-evaluated in one week, but until then, fans should brace themselves for the worst, while hoping for the best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the regular season quickly approaching an end, all eyes shift towards the NBA Playoffs as the final…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3773],"tags":[7,296,188,3860,6,297],"class_list":{"0":"post-694413","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-nba","13":"tag-pistons"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116336599015333036","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694413","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=694413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}