DETROIT – The Detroit Pistons are locked into their best playoff seed in nearly two decades, but it could get even better.
Right now, the Pistons hold the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. They’re two games behind the Milwaukee Bucks for the No. 5 seed and 3.5 games ahead of the Orlando Magic at No. 7.
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Orlando can’t catch the Pistons, and the Pistons can’t catch the Indiana Pacers for the No. 4 seed. So Detroit will either finish fifth or sixth in the final standings.
It’s not going to be easy, but the Pistons actually control their own destiny in the race for the No. 5 seed.
Here are the final three games on Detroit’s schedule:
- Thursday night: vs. New York Knicks.
- Friday night: vs. Milwaukee Bucks.
- Sunday afternoon: at Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bucks host the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night, and that game only matters if the Pistons lose to the Knicks.
If the Pistons beat the Knicks, then the Pelicans-Bucks game is completely irrelevant. If the Pistons lose to the Knicks, then the Pistons need the Pelicans to beat the Bucks to keep their hopes for the No. 5 seed alive.
Let’s say the Pistons and Bucks both win on Thursday night. Here’s how the standings will look heading into their two head-to-head meetings:
- Bucks: 46-34.
- Pistons: 44-36.
So if the Pistons beat the Bucks back-to-back, both teams will finish the regular season at 46-36.
The first tiebreaker is head-to-head. Milwaukee won the first two meetings on Nov. 13 and Dec. 3, so if the Pistons win twice this weekend, their head-to-head records would be tied.
Then, the tiebreaker moves to divisional record. Right now, the Bucks are 7-7 within the division and the Pistons are 5-9. If the Pistons beat the Bucks twice, they would both finish at 7-9.
The tiebreaker would then move to overall record against Eastern Conference opponents. If the Pistons win each of their final three games, they will be 31-21 against the East, and the Bucks will be 29-23.
If the Pistons lose either game to the Bucks -- or if the Pistons lose to the Knicks and the Bucks beat the Pelicans -- the Pistons will be locked into the No. 6 seed.
The Knicks only need to win one of their final three games to clinch the No. 3 seed in the East. They would also clinch if the Pacers lose any of their final three games.
If the Pacers win out -- vs. the Cavs, vs. the Magic, and at the Cavs -- and the Knicks lose out -- at the Pistons, vs. the Cavs, and at the Nets -- the Pacers will get the No. 3 seed and the Knicks will fall to No. 4.
