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After having a franchise best 27-5 start, it was only a matter of time before people started comparing the Pistons to the Chicago Bulls team that won 72 games. Is it even feasible for a team with no immediate Hall-of-Famers to possibly win 70 games? The nave among us could answer yes. But the calm and collected will take a deep breath and answer no.


Any long-time NBA fan should be able to recite a plethora of teams to have great starts like this but didn’t win much more than 60. In fact there are 10 teams in this millennium alone that had similar starts that didn’t reach 70. Even more disturbing was that these teams came in consecutive years, so you’d think that the talk of “going for 70″ would have become cliché by now.

05-06 Detroit Pistons: 27-5

04-05 Phoenix Suns: 31-4

03-04 Indiana Pacers: 15-3

03-04 LA Lakers: 18-3

02-03 Dallas Mavericks: 22-3

01-02 LA Lakers: 26-6

01-02 New Jersey Nets: 26-9

00-01 Philadelphia 76ers: 10-0

99-00 LA Lakers: 31-5

99-00 Portland Blazers: 10-1


Being a group with great teamwork is impressive considering that all the above teams had the go-to-guy Detroit doesn’t. However it makes the Pistons even more vulnerable to a long-term losing streak. The Suns started off 31-4 last year and were getting similar praises. But Steve Nash got injured and Phoenix lost 6 in a row, decimating their 70-win hopes.


All it takes is one injury to Detroit’s starting five and they’re done. This team isn’t deep at all, and filling Arroyo in for Billups or Evans in for Prince isn’t equal compensation. It isn’t a coincidence Detroit is injury-free right now. The Pistons went 5-11 last year when one of the five was out, so they should fear defeats when Ben Wallace gets hurt.


Ben Wallace wants a big contract at the end of this year and there’s a chance the Pistons won’t give in to a high salary, so it’s imperative for Detroit to do as good as possible with this group while they still can. Their biggest priority is to be healthy for the postseason, which means that they’ll rest guys near the end of the year. So losses will come eventually for Detroit. As long they win 60 they’ll have home court throughout the playoffs. If they don’t win it all, 70 won’t mean jack.

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