Detroit are tuning out the naysayers who tip the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks or even fourth-seeded Cleveland to beat the top-seeded Pistons to the NBA Eastern Conference crown.<\/p>\n
“Everybody got a right to their own opinion,” guard Ausar Thompson said this week as the Pistons prepped for their playoff opener on Sunday.<\/p>\n
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“We don’t really worry about that. We all believe we could not only come out the East but win it all.<\/p>\n
“We just focus on that, focus on ourselves and let everybody on the outside say what they’ve got to say.”<\/p>\n
The Pistons piled up 60 wins behind an MVP-caliber season from Cade Cunningham.<\/p>\n
They topped the East from November on, weathering a string of injuries that included Cunningham’s late-season absence with a collapsed lung to finish with the third-best record in the league.<\/p>\n
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They’ll open the playoffs against either Charlotte or Orlando, aiming to improve on their first-round exit at the hands of the Knicks last year.<\/p>\n
The Pistons’ rise to the top of the East continues a remarkable turnaround from a dismal 14-win 2023-24 campaign.<\/p>\n
Their 60 wins are a 16-win improvement on last season, but plenty of pundits believe they’re vulnerable, especially with the unexpected late-season return of Jayson Tatum to the Celtics after his recovery from a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in last year’s playoffs.<\/p>\n
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“Boston’s obviously a good team but we’re not concerned about Boston,” said Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who on Friday was named the NBA Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year.<\/p>\n
“Our biggest concern is making sure we\u2019re doing what we need to do to go out and be as good as we possibly can.<\/p>\n
“Our guys don’t live and die by other people’s expectations and comments,” Bickerstaff added. “Our guys show up and live and die by playing Pistons basketball.”<\/p>\n
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All season Bickerstaff has touted his team’s camaraderie and intensity.<\/p>\n
They boasted the second-ranked defense in the league and the 10th-ranked offense, but some question whether they can keep the offense firing as teams make defensive adjustments over the course of post-season series.<\/p>\n
Big man Isaiah Stewart says the pessimistic prognostications from outside the team only fuel the Pistons.<\/p>\n
“I feel like this is what we do,” Stewart said. “We’ve always been underdogs, and we’re still hunting. We like that.”<\/p>\n
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