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The Detroit Pistons are division champs once again.
They clinched the Central Division on Tuesday, March 31 with a 127-116 home win over the Toronto Raptors, taking an eight-game lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers with six games to play. It marks the 11th division title in franchise history, and their first since 2008. It's a significant milestone – the franchise's first crown of any sort in 6,577 days – in a season already filled with them.
"You take pride in understanding how hard it is to do any of those things in this league," coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "You take pride in the fact that you have a group of young guys, young men who collectively have grown and achieved certain milestones. It’s a part of the process, and we expect more. But you just respect how difficult it is to do any of those things in this league. It is a big deal for our guys and this organization to get ourselves back in that position and in position to do more, because you can't win the level you want to win at if you don’t take those steps."
More: Obsessive film habit drives Ausar Thompson's otherworldly defense
It coincides with the Pistons earning their 55th win this season, giving them sole possession of the fourth-winningest season in franchise history. With six games left, they can still surpass the franchise record held by the 1989-90 and 2007-08 Pistons teams, each of which won 59 games. (The 2007-08 squad is also the last Pistons team to win a playoff game at home and the last to win a playoff series.)
How long ago was that 2008 Central title, the Pistons' sixth in seven seasons at the time? The last time the Pistons could celebrate a Central title, Seattle had an NBA team, Charlotte had the Bobcats, New Orleans had the Hornets and the state of New Jersey had the Nets. Jalen Duren, now in his fourth season with the franchise, wasn't even 4½ years old the last time the Pistons earned a banner, on March 28, 2008. The youngest Piston on the current roster, Ron Holland (who's in his second season with the franchise) was still more than three months away from turning 3. A mere three "Fast & Furious" movies had been released; there are at least 10 now. The world was still roughly five weeks from the release of the first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, "Iron Man." With the Pistons as Central champs again, we're up to 37 films in the MCU.
But let's come back to basketball. The Pistons' closest competition in the Central that 2008 season (finishing 14 games back), the Cavaliers, were led by a 23-year-old named LeBron James who finished that season – his fifth in the league – with 10,689 career points. On Tuesday, James scored 14 points (for the LA Lakers, in his eighth season with that franchise, en route to a 127-113 win over the Cavs) to bring his NBA-best career total to 43,325 points.
But the span is a little greater than even that suggests, as James scored his 14 after the Pistons had wrapped up the 2025-26 title: When the Pistons clinched the 2007-08 Central, James had 10,464 points; he entered Tuesday with 43,311 – meaning James scored 32,847 points between Pistons crowns. That's more points than all but three other players – Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabar – in NBA history.
And yet, now that the Pistons are Central champions again, there is but one number that is important: The magic number for the Pistons to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference over the Boston Celtics. That dropped to two on Tuesday, meaning a Celtics loss Wednesday (on the road at the Miami Heat) and a Pistons win Thursday (at LCA over the Minnesota Timberwolves) would give them their first regular-season conference title since the 2006-07 season. (Don't ask about LeBron's points back then.)
It's potentially the last significant milestone left for a team that already has clinched its division and homecourt in the first round.
“We knew we were trying to do something special since this summer, since this core group has been together," point guard Daniss Jenkins said. "Even last year we were just working, just grinding, just scratching stuff off our list. It’s great to accomplish things like that, but we obviously have our eyes on the playoffs and want to do some damage there. It’s good. We’ll celebrate it tonight, but we’re about to do work tomorrow."
Not even a late season injury to All-Star guard Cade Cunningham has slowed the Pistons down. Tuesday's win left them at 7-2 since he went down with a collapsed left lung on March 17.
Fellow All-Star Duren, who paced the Pistons on Tuesday with 31 points (on 12-for-13 shooting) and nine rebounds, has performed well as a primary option. In 20 games between the All-Star break and Tuesday, the 22-year-old averaged 23 points and 11.1 rebounds on 66.3% shooting.
He's leading a team that has proven to be among the deepest in the league. Javonte Green, Paul Reed and Kevin Huerter nearly led them to an oertime road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, as starters Duren, Tobias Harris and Duncan Robinson all sat, along with Cunningham and Isaiah Stewart.
With less than two weeks remaining, the Pistons have little to play for, except pride and preparation for the playoffs, which begin April 18.
"I think it’s good that we’re still hitting milestones," Duren said. "It’s good for the team to celebrate right now. Take it with a grain of salt and get ready for the next one."
Watch our podcast, "The Pistons Pulse," discuss the Cade Cunningham injury fallout, the playoff chase and more:
Free Press sports writer Ryan Ford contributed to this report.
Contact Omari Sankofa II at [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky and/or X @omarisankofa.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons rejoice in first Central Division title in 18 years
Continue reading...
They clinched the Central Division on Tuesday, March 31 with a 127-116 home win over the Toronto Raptors, taking an eight-game lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers with six games to play. It marks the 11th division title in franchise history, and their first since 2008. It's a significant milestone – the franchise's first crown of any sort in 6,577 days – in a season already filled with them.
"You take pride in understanding how hard it is to do any of those things in this league," coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "You take pride in the fact that you have a group of young guys, young men who collectively have grown and achieved certain milestones. It’s a part of the process, and we expect more. But you just respect how difficult it is to do any of those things in this league. It is a big deal for our guys and this organization to get ourselves back in that position and in position to do more, because you can't win the level you want to win at if you don’t take those steps."
More: Obsessive film habit drives Ausar Thompson's otherworldly defense
It coincides with the Pistons earning their 55th win this season, giving them sole possession of the fourth-winningest season in franchise history. With six games left, they can still surpass the franchise record held by the 1989-90 and 2007-08 Pistons teams, each of which won 59 games. (The 2007-08 squad is also the last Pistons team to win a playoff game at home and the last to win a playoff series.)
How long ago was that 2008 Central title, the Pistons' sixth in seven seasons at the time? The last time the Pistons could celebrate a Central title, Seattle had an NBA team, Charlotte had the Bobcats, New Orleans had the Hornets and the state of New Jersey had the Nets. Jalen Duren, now in his fourth season with the franchise, wasn't even 4½ years old the last time the Pistons earned a banner, on March 28, 2008. The youngest Piston on the current roster, Ron Holland (who's in his second season with the franchise) was still more than three months away from turning 3. A mere three "Fast & Furious" movies had been released; there are at least 10 now. The world was still roughly five weeks from the release of the first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, "Iron Man." With the Pistons as Central champs again, we're up to 37 films in the MCU.
But let's come back to basketball. The Pistons' closest competition in the Central that 2008 season (finishing 14 games back), the Cavaliers, were led by a 23-year-old named LeBron James who finished that season – his fifth in the league – with 10,689 career points. On Tuesday, James scored 14 points (for the LA Lakers, in his eighth season with that franchise, en route to a 127-113 win over the Cavs) to bring his NBA-best career total to 43,325 points.
But the span is a little greater than even that suggests, as James scored his 14 after the Pistons had wrapped up the 2025-26 title: When the Pistons clinched the 2007-08 Central, James had 10,464 points; he entered Tuesday with 43,311 – meaning James scored 32,847 points between Pistons crowns. That's more points than all but three other players – Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabar – in NBA history.
And yet, now that the Pistons are Central champions again, there is but one number that is important: The magic number for the Pistons to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference over the Boston Celtics. That dropped to two on Tuesday, meaning a Celtics loss Wednesday (on the road at the Miami Heat) and a Pistons win Thursday (at LCA over the Minnesota Timberwolves) would give them their first regular-season conference title since the 2006-07 season. (Don't ask about LeBron's points back then.)
It's potentially the last significant milestone left for a team that already has clinched its division and homecourt in the first round.
“We knew we were trying to do something special since this summer, since this core group has been together," point guard Daniss Jenkins said. "Even last year we were just working, just grinding, just scratching stuff off our list. It’s great to accomplish things like that, but we obviously have our eyes on the playoffs and want to do some damage there. It’s good. We’ll celebrate it tonight, but we’re about to do work tomorrow."
Not even a late season injury to All-Star guard Cade Cunningham has slowed the Pistons down. Tuesday's win left them at 7-2 since he went down with a collapsed left lung on March 17.
Fellow All-Star Duren, who paced the Pistons on Tuesday with 31 points (on 12-for-13 shooting) and nine rebounds, has performed well as a primary option. In 20 games between the All-Star break and Tuesday, the 22-year-old averaged 23 points and 11.1 rebounds on 66.3% shooting.
He's leading a team that has proven to be among the deepest in the league. Javonte Green, Paul Reed and Kevin Huerter nearly led them to an oertime road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, as starters Duren, Tobias Harris and Duncan Robinson all sat, along with Cunningham and Isaiah Stewart.
With less than two weeks remaining, the Pistons have little to play for, except pride and preparation for the playoffs, which begin April 18.
"I think it’s good that we’re still hitting milestones," Duren said. "It’s good for the team to celebrate right now. Take it with a grain of salt and get ready for the next one."
Watch our podcast, "The Pistons Pulse," discuss the Cade Cunningham injury fallout, the playoff chase and more:
Free Press sports writer Ryan Ford contributed to this report.
Contact Omari Sankofa II at [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky and/or X @omarisankofa.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons rejoice in first Central Division title in 18 years
Continue reading...
