The Detroit Pistons are staring elimination dead in the face as they trail 3-1 to the 8 seed Orlando Magic. But I don’t believe it’s simply because the Pistons are bad.We all saw what this team was capable of throughout the season, especially their depth when Cade went down with injury. I think a lot of people simply forgot how good Orlando was expected to be.

I had them as a top 5 eastern conference team in my preseason rankings. Granted they dealt with some injuries, especially Franz Wagner, but after the Desmond Bane acquisition many thought Orlando would be a team contending in the East. The difference this series has been Orlando’s defense, specifically on Jalen Duren. Duren was huge for Detroit when Cade was absent and so far in these playoffs is averaging 9 points and 8 rebounds. A lot of credit for that goes to Wendell Carter Jr and Goga Bitadze.

I never had Detroit making the finals, I just thought they were too inexperienced. But they should at the very least be able to win a matchup against the 8 seed. The difficult part about this situation is, outside of Jalen Duren showing up and Cade cutting turnovers, I’m not sure what else Detroit can do.

One thing is certain, Detroit has their backs against the wall. Jalen Duren…. Cade Cunningham…. your time is NOW to show everyone what you’re made of.