NBA: Preseason Fact And Fiction

October 21, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors center Festus Ezeli (31) is congratulated by guard Andre Iguodala (9) and guard Stephen Curry (30) for recording a block against the Los Angeles Clippers during the first quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

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Oct 7, 2014; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy talks to his players in the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bulls at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Detroit won 111-109 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /

The Stan Van Gundy Detroit Pistons and Run-N-Gun Phoenix Suns are playoff teams

In the West, 48 wins wasn’t enough for the surprising Phoenix Suns to make the playoffs last season. Phoenix will miss Channing Frye and they won’t be so under-the-radar this year, but the Suns have the deepest backcourt in the league, they’ll be pushing the tempo whenever they get the ball and they have a second unit with not one but two sources of instant offense in Isaiah Thomas and Gerald Green. They’re 4-2 in the preseason so far and have a point differential of +8.5.

As for the Pistons, Van Gundy has shown us different looks on how he plans to handle the frontcourt logjam, but most likely, he’ll be bringing one of the Greg Monroe-Andre Drummond-Josh Smith trio off the bench to wreak havoc on the opposition’s secondary bigs. The Pistons are off to an encouraging 4-2 start and will be more disciplined under SVG, especially with three-point shooters to help spread the floor. Are both of these teams playoff squads in 2014-15?

Verdict: Fact

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that not only will the Suns sneak into the loaded Western Conference playoffs, but that a more fundamentally sound Detroit team will do the same out East. The New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets aren’t guaranteed anything and the East is weak, which means a top-10 coach like SVG might be enough provided Brandon Jennings doesn’t make him go into cardiac arrest. The Suns vastly upgraded their backcourt and second unit, and have Jeff Hornacek, who finished second in Coach of the Year voting last year. Playoff spots for everybody!

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