What lies ahead for the top-seeded Pistons and Thunder in these playoffs

Will Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder claim back-to-back titles or can Cade Cunningham lift the Pistons to their 1st title since 2004?

Being a top seed in the NBA playoffs has its privileges. Home-court advantage throughout the rounds and the most favorable matchups every round from a seeding standpoint are the obvious two. Plus the swagger that comes with such a status, that the conference title must go through that town/team.

There’s also this: The higher the seed, the harder the fall.

In the playoffs, even with a seven-game series, sometimes the hotter team ultimately prevails, making all that hard work in the regular season moot. 

These are the realities for the top-seeded Detroit Pistons and Oklahoma City Thunder starting next weekend. The East and West conference championships are theirs to lose strictly from a seeding standpoint, but as everyone knows in the NBA playoffs, sometimes stuff happens. 

For reference, the top seed has won the last three NBA championships. That’s an encouraging omen for the Thunder and Pistons. However, in each case, both top seeds didn’t advance to the NBA Finals, just one. In the Finals those years, that lone top seed played an eight, five and four seed to win, proof of the league’s pivot to parity. 

The news is more sobering — the top seed won the championship only once in the previous five years. 

Also, while Oklahoma City did follow up its 1-seed last year with a title, the Thunder had to sweat out a pair of Game 7s, both against teams (Denver, Indiana) with crucial players (Aaron Gordon, Tyrese Haliburton) pulling up lame in those elimination games. 

Finally, the road ahead for the Thunder and Pistons has potholes big enough to swallow a 1-seed. OKC might need to solve the riddle of the San Antonio Spurs, who’ve beaten them four times this season. The Pistons could see a Boston Celtics team recharged by previously-injured Jayson Tatum. 

“It’s obviously important to have the one-seed,” said OKC coach Mark Daigneault, “but when you go into the playoffs, it’s a blank slate.” 

Here’s an examination of the two top seeds, their paths, assets and concerns as they creep ahead to the playoffs: 

Pistons

First, the Pistons deserve a salute no matter what happens next. This team just executed a sharp turnaround. Two years ago they were stuck in the mud, woozy from an unfathomable 28-game losing streak which led to a 14-win season and made a clean housecleaning of the front office and coaching staff as a result. These weren’t the Bad Boys; this was bad, boys. 

They went from that darkness … to these last four months sitting at the top spot in the East, an express elevator ride seldom seen in the league. 

Back slaps all around, especially for team president Trajan Langdon, coach JB Bickerstaff, All-Stars Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren and also Tom Gores, who saw the need for a quick (and costly) shakeup and instituted the changes from top to bottom. 

“It’s a group thing,” said Bickerstaff. “Everybody who’s been a part of this should be celebrated for this. But our work’s not done. That’s the mentality that we have.” 

Now comes the tricky part: Proving yourself on the big stage and confirming the legitimacy of the 1-seed. 

As Cunningham said: “I’m pleased with where we’re at but I’m not really satisfied. We’ve had a great year so far … now that we’re in the playoffs, the real grind starts.” 

There’s the perception, real or not, that the East is wide open, which says a bit about the Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks … and also about the Pistons. Crazy how they can win 60 games, and cope without Cunningham for nearly a month, and this is the case. 

Cunningham is the required star a team needs to travel deep into spring. His ability to impact games multiple ways is valuable in that regard. He can have a so-so shooting performance and still make a difference, rare among players. 

With Duren, Ausar Thompson and Isaiah Stewart around to flex on defense, the Pistons’ prime attention must be paid to outside shooting. With the exception of Duncan Robinson they lack a deep threat; even Cunningham (34%) is mild at best. This could loom as an issue if only because, in a best-of-seven, opposing teams can adjust accordingly and force the Pistons to take those shots. 

It’s possible the Pistons’ fate will be decided by matchups. They went 3-0 against the Knicks and split with the Cavs. The Boston games were meaningless because of Tatum’s absence in them. 

In that sense — and all signals are pointed in this direction — it’ll likely come down to how they measure up against Boston; such a meeting wouldn’t happen until the conference finals. 

“Boston’s obviously a good team but we’re not concerned about Boston. Our biggest concern is making sure we’re doing what we need to do to go out and be as good as we possibly can,” said Bickerstaff. 

Thunder

Oklahoma City returned everyone from a championship team, then incredibly added another rotational piece at the trade deadline, survived the injury rehab of its No. 2 option and received another MVP-level performance from the reigning MVP to amass the most wins in the NBA this season. 

That’s a long-winded way of saying all’s well and swell with the Thunder. 

This team continued along a path of mastery like no other even when it wasn’t at full strength. That’s a credit to a non-complacent mindset following the championship, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his amazing efficiency, and to the depth of a club assembled by Sam Presti and steered deftly by Daigneault. 

OKC was tested only once all season, humbled by the upstarts in San Antonio, who refused to bow down to the defending champs and if anything planted a seed of uncertainty in the heads of the Thunder. 

The 1-4 record to the No. 2 seeded Spurs looms as the only real red-alert for OKC in the road ahead. Could another team cause trouble in the playoffs? Yes, perhaps a healthy Denver Nuggets squad. According to logic, the only cement block between OKC and a return to the NBA Finals is San Antonio, assuming these teams meet in the conference finals. 

Otherwise, there’s so much to admire about the Thunder. Shai gives them a big advantage in tight fourth quarters; he’s as clutch as they come. He finished a historic season with a runner-up spot on the scoring list and a seemingly unbreakable string of games with 20 points or more. Also, Chet Holmgren raised his defense a notch and therefore, so did OKC as a whole. 

The rotation once again is stretchy and — this is where it seems unfair — Jared McCain not only fit in since arriving from Philadelphia, but thrived at times and enhanced OKC’s outside shooting. 

The only suspense lies with Williams and when/if he can regain an All-NBA level. He has shown only glimpses since off-season wrist surgery, which is understandable, given his sporadic playing schedule since then. 

“I’ve got pretty fresh legs right now, which will serve me well,” he said. “I’ll probably go into the playoffs pretty fresh.” 

But if he continues along an inconsistent path, Daigneault could reduce his minutes especially if others, such as McCain, Isaiah Joe, Ajay Mitchell, Aaron Wiggins or Cason Wallace — whew — produce and therefore push for more playing time. 

See, that’s where OKC separates itself from others. With the exception of Shai, the Thunder really don’t need other starters to bring an A-game every night. 

And, defense. 

“Our defense gives us a chance every single night,” said Daigneault, “keeping us in stretches of the game where the offense goes in or out or when our shots don’t fall. And when the offense is going, it allows us to build leads.” 

Two teams, Pistons and Thunder, two No. 1 seeds, are the best the NBA has to offer … on paper. And on seeding. The truth is sometimes different than that and the league is about to find out. 

Because in the playoffs, those top seeds must prove themselves all over again.

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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA since 1985. You can e-mail him at spowell@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.