The Detroit Pistons entered the 2026 NBA playoffs as the best team in the Eastern Conference by record, but now they face elimination. A 60-win team and the first-seed in the East are on the brink of having their amazing regular-season cut short in just the first round of the playoffs. Detroit is facing the eighth-seed Orlando Magic, but Orlando is not your normal eighth-seed. Many people believe that they would’ve finished as a top-four seed if they had stayed healthy throughout the season. Well, now they are almost at full health and have Detroit in a three-to-two series deficit.
Most of the problems that they’re going through right now were not problems during the regular-season. Their main problem right now is the lack of shot creation outside of their superstar Cade Cunningham. Daniss Jenkins solved some of these issues, especially late in the season when Cade went down with a collapsed lung. Jenkins was actually great for them down the stretch, but in the playoffs against the Magic, it just hasn’t been the same type of production. Rightfully so, it’s the playoffs, it’s harder to get into comfortable positions to produce.
Against this gritty and physical Orlando defense, it’s hard to get any type of shot. Their size and length that they seem to always have on the court is what bothers Detroit the most. They are beating the Pistons at their own game. Detroit held their head high on being a physical team, which clearly worked for them up to this point. This could also be one of the reasons we haven’t seen much from Jenkins like we did in the regular-season. The Magic’s size is just overwhelming everything that Detroit is trying to do out there. They have many questions to be addressed.
Does a first-round exit as the first-seed cause the front office to make drastic roster changes in the offseason? We aren’t so sure about a major change to this team, but one thing is certain: they need more shot creation other than Cunningham; he can’t do it alone. This series still isn’t over yet, there are still ways they can get back in this, and one of those ways is we need to see the Jalen Duren we seen during the season. He has to show up for this Detroit team if they want any chance. Don’t be surprised if they turn this around; they are a 60-win team after all.
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