Sawt Falasteen - Top-seeded Pistons embrace underdog tag

"Everybody got a right to their own opinion," guard Ausar Thompson said this week as the Pistons prepped for their playoff opener on Sunday.

"We don't really worry about that. We all believe we could not only come out the East but win it all.

"We just focus on that, focus on ourselves and let everybody on the outside say what they've got to say."

The Pistons piled up 60 wins behind an MVP-caliber season from Cade Cunningham.

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.

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.

The Pistons' rise to the top of the East continues a remarkable turnaround from a dismal 14-win 2023-24 campaign.

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.

"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.

"Our biggest concern is making sure we’re doing what we need to do to go out and be as good as we possibly can.

"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."

All season Bickerstaff has touted his team's camaraderie and intensity.

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.

Big man Isaiah Stewart says the pessimistic prognostications from outside the team only fuel the Pistons.

"I feel like this is what we do," Stewart said. "We've always been underdogs, and we're still hunting. We like that."

W.AbuLaban--SF-PST