With a 117-105 win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday, the Detroit Pistons have clinched a playoff spot a year after winning an NBA-low 14 games. It has been one one of the best single-season turnarounds in league history as Detroit is actually the first team to triple its win total from the previous year.
The 14 wins in 2023-24 is also the lowest total for a team that made the playoffs the following season.
The Pistons technically own the East’s No. 5 seed at the moment, but that’s only because they have played one more game than the six-seed Bucks. Detroit and Milwaukee are tied in the loss column, and Milwaukee would win the tiebreaker today with a 2-0 head-to-head record.
But … the Pistons and Bucks close the season with two consecutive games against one another. Those two games will very likely determine the Nos. 5 and 6 seeds, with neither team likely to catch the No. 4 Pacers, who have a three-game lead with five to play and also own the tiebreaker over Detroit.