The top seed and home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs already is locked up.
The Detroit Pistons now can gear up for what they hope is an extended postseason run while trying to avoid a major injury.
They’ll host the Milwaukee Bucks in their final regular-season home game on Wednesday.
Detroit (57-22) didn’t have a handful of key players in a 123-107 loss to Orlando on Monday, one game after clinching the top seed.
Franchise player Cade Cunningham (collapsed lung) and key reserve Isaiah Stewart (calf strain) were listed as questionable heading into the contest, which actually was good news. Both have been sidelined since mid-March, but there’s optimism they’ll get some game action before the first round of the playoffs.
“Both of them are progressing. They are doing more and more each day,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “With both of these things, it is always about how you respond the next day. I don’t want to jump out there and say anything, but so far, so good. They are taking steps in the right direction.”
Starters Tobias Harris and Duncan Robinson and reserve Caris LeVert also sat out against the Magic. The Pistons still were disappointed by their performance.
“I am not sure what it was, but we know we can’t have those mistakes, especially when we are down four or five guys,” wing Javonte Green said. “We can’t do that. I feel like we know that now and will take that going forward.”
Detroit trailed by 22 points entering the fourth quarter, then cut the deficit to four points before running out of steam. It was just the Pistons’ third loss since Cunningham was injured on March 17.
“When we’re at our best, we’re defending at a high level,” Bickerstaff said. “For whatever reason, through the first three quarters, we struggled with that. So, it was great to see our guys put that together. It would have been better, obviously, to close it out, but it was great to see them continue to fight and scrap.”
The Bucks (31-48) simply are playing out the string, with three games remaining before their misery ends. They lost to another lottery-bound team, Brooklyn, on Tuesday, 96-90. None of Milwaukee’s usual starters played. It was led by AJ Green with 20 points.
The Bucks have lost 17 of their last 22 games. They’ll close out the season with a home game against the Nets on Friday and a road contest against Philadelphia on Sunday.
Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers strongly suggested on Tuesday that he’ll be stepping down after the season.
“I have seven grandkids now, and they’re all 8 years and under. It kills me every time I miss Grandparents Day with each one of them in school,” he said. “It’s probably time to go see them more, so I’ll let you figure out the rest.”
The Bucks won 13 consecutive regular-season games against the Pistons entering this season. Detroit has turned that around, leading the series 2-1. All three games were played in November or early December.
–Field Level Media
