NBA Power Rankings: Playoff Edition

<p>When the Pistons made the “bold” move to add Tobias Harris in a trade with the Orlando Magic, the team was sitting with a .500 record and with little in the way of forward momentum. Since that time, Detroit has posted a 17-11 record and Stan Van Gundy has this team playing well enough where they could be considered quite dangerous.</p> <p>There is a certain ceiling with this group, though, and it comes with defensive issues. It is very nice to have Andre Drummond in the middle of any defense, but Detroit is allowing more than 103 points per 100 possessions on the season, and that figure has actually climbed to 105.8 points allowed per 100 since the Harris trade. In the playoffs, defensive issues are very difficult to mask, and even with SVG’s ability to produce results that are over the heads of his talent level, there are many individual players that need masking in this system.</p> <p>Still, Drummond’s sheer presence and the strong play from Reggie Jackson this season do make Detroit’s offense quite potent in a slower-paced game. That pick-and-roll duo is filthy at times, and if the Pistons can knock down enough threes to stay afloat, things could be <em>quite</em> interesting against the Cavaliers. Jackson famously declared that his team won’t be backing down from Cleveland (in a much more amusing quote), and we should be excited to watch that series, even if it is a death march for Detroit.</p>. (44-38). Previous: . Detroit Pistons. 11. team. 64