After clinching the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Detroit Pistons have a chance to finish with 60 wins for just the third time in franchise history and the first time in 20 years.
Detroit (57-21) heads into the final week of the regular season with four games remaining, including a road matchup on Monday night against the Orlando Magic (42-36).
The Magic have won three of their past four games, have secured a postseason berth, and sit ninth in the Eastern Conference, a half-game behind the Charlotte Hornets and one game ahead of the Miami Heat, with four games remaining.
Orlando also is one game behind the Philadelphia 76ers, who currently hold the sixth and final guaranteed playoff spot.
Detroit secured the top seed in the East for the first time since 2006-07 with a 116-93 road win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.
Tobias Harris scored 19 points and Daniss Jenkins contributed 16 points and 14 assists for the Pistons, who have won 12 of their past 15 games.
The Pistons are 8-2 since star Cade Cunningham suffered a collapsed lung. The team also is playing without Isaiah Stewart, who will miss his 13th straight game on Monday with a left calf strain.
“We take pride in being the most together, through the ups and the downs,” Detroit forward Jalen Duren said. “We lean on each other; we really take brotherhood seriously over here. We expected to be one of the better teams in this league because of the amount of work we put in and the togetherness we have.”
The Pistons’ depth will be on display again on Monday with both Harris (knee) and Duncan Robinson (hip) listed as questionable.
One of the team’s top reserves has been 32-year-old Javonte Green, who has averaged 6.8 points a game on 44.3% shooting from the field and 37.3% from 3-point range.
“He has been the ultimate Swiss Army knife; he can do everything,” Duren said. “He can shoot the heck out of the ball. He can guard. He can defend. He is very decisive offensively and never tries to do too much. I think he has been very underrated for our success.”
Detroit won two of its first three meetings against Orlando this season, including a 106-92 road victory on March 1.
The Magic rallied from a 15-point, second-half deficit to beat the host New Orleans Pelicans 112-108 on Sunday. Desmond Bane scored 27 points and Paolo Banchero recorded his 25th double-double of the season.
Banchero had 23 points and matched his season high with 16 rebounds for Orlando, which outscored New Orleans 31-20 in the fourth quarter.
“There were eight minutes left in the game and the guys talked about forgetting what happened before, shots made, shots missed, can we defend the right way?” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “And can we have our assignments down pat? These guys communicated that,” he added. “And that’s just big for the group.”
Bane was also encouraged by Orlando’s effort on Sunday, when the Magic grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and scored 24 second-chance points.
“You’ve got to be able to win in multiple ways,” Bane said. “Whether we’re making shots or missing shots, we can control our effort, and the offensive glass is straight effort plays. All the way up and down the board, we just had resiliency.”
Orlando headed home after Sunday’s game to compete in its final back-to-back set of the campaign on Monday.
–Field Level Media
