The Detroit Pistons have surged from years of misery to the NBA’s best record as play resumes after the All-Star break. Detroit sits at 40-13 and barely leads Oklahoma City when games resume Thursday. The Pistons avoid long skids and rarely lose big. They also beat strong teams more than anyone.
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Takeaways from AP's reportOne Tech Tip: Take your iPhone security to the extreme with Lockdown ModeThis sticky rice recipe riffs on a dim sum classic for Lunar New Year or any timeUSA Stars forward Scottie Barnes, center, celebrates with guard Cade Cunningham after a win over World during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. USA Stripes forward Kawhi Leonard, center, dribbles between World guard Jamal Murray, of Canada, left, and forward Alperen Sengun, of Turkey, during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic talks to reporters during the NBA All-Star basketball game media day Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looks back after making a basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Orlando Magic, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Oklahoma City. USA Stars forward Scottie Barnes, center, celebrates with guard Cade Cunningham after a win over World during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. USA Stars forward Scottie Barnes, center, celebrates with guard Cade Cunningham after a win over World during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. USA Stripes forward Kawhi Leonard, center, dribbles between World guard Jamal Murray, of Canada, left, and forward Alperen Sengun, of Turkey, during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. USA Stripes forward Kawhi Leonard, center, dribbles between World guard Jamal Murray, of Canada, left, and forward Alperen Sengun, of Turkey, during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic talks to reporters during the NBA All-Star basketball game media day Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic talks to reporters during the NBA All-Star basketball game media day Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looks back after making a basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Orlando Magic, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looks back after making a basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Orlando Magic, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Oklahoma City. The Detroit Pistons had the worst record in franchise history at the All-Star break four years ago. And two years ago, their record at the break was even worse.starts post-All-Star play on Thursday, the Pistons — a franchise that last won a playoff series in 2008 — will start the night with the best record in the league, a smidge ahead of the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. Detroit is 40-13, Oklahoma City 42-14. The Thunder were expected to be here. The Pistons probably weren’t. How Detroit finishes, and if it can hold on to that top spot, is one of the intriguing storylines for the stretch run of the NBA season — with two-thirds of the year complete and teams now set to sprint toward the playoffs or “We’re just going to run our race,” Pistons All-Star guard Cade Cunningham said. “We like where we’re at, and we’re going to continue to try to finish our season strong.”They haven’t been prone to any sort of real slide yet; they’re 11-2 after a loss and are one of only three teams yet to have a losing streak of more than two games. They don’t get blown out; they have a league-low three losses by 10 points or more. They’re a league-best 17-6 against teams who were at .500 or better. Playoff basketball awaits in Detroit, and for the first time since 2008 there should be a Game 1 of a postseason series at home for the Pistons. Plenty of other teams — the Thunder, Boston, New York, San Antonio, Denver, Houston, Cleveland — are probably safe to call playoff locks at this point as well. The next two months will tell the tale of which teams find their way either into Round 1 or will be trying to land the No. 1 draft pick instead. “It’s been hard. It’s been a long journey so far, but just going to work every day, finding ways to connect with my teammates, connect with the city the best I can, and bring wins to the city,” Cunningham said. “That’s what the city respects and loves is people that go out there and compete every day. There were times they didn’t like how we played. We figured it out, and now we have something going, something building. Just have to keep going now.”The top five teams in the NBA record-wise right now: Detroit, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Boston, Denver and New York .Granted, in the early days the league had far fewer teams than it does now. But there have been only four instances of the eventual NBA Finals winner not being among the league’s top-five teams record-wise at the All-Star break. Milwaukee was seventh at the break in the coronavirus-affected 2020-21 season. Detroit was seventh at the break in 2003-04, Houston was ninth at the break in 1994-95 and Washington was eighth in 1977-78.It looks like a two-person race for the scoring title: the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.Doncic won the scoring race in 2023-24; Gilgeous-Alexander could become the 14th player in NBA history to win the title in consecutive seasons.Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton — All-NBA picks last season — were going to be out of the awards mix this season because of their Achilles tendon tears suffered in last season’s playoffs, so it was clear from the outset of this season that the group of award winners this spring would be different.Because of the 65-game rule for eligibility for most player awards, the Lakers’ LeBron James is going to see his 21-year streak of making the All-NBA team end. He’s one of five All-NBA picks from last season who are assured of not making the team this year, joining Tatum, Haliburton, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams. On the brink of joining that list: Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Golden State’s Stephen Curry, who basically can miss one more game the rest of the way to preserve their award eligibility. Cleveland’s Evan Mobley — second-team All-NBA last season — has been inactive 13 times this year, so he doesn’t have a lot of missed-time wiggle room down the stretch of the season. The Lakers’ Austin Reaves, Washington’s Anthony Davis and Memphis’ Ja Morant are all well past the cutoff for eligibility as well. Others who are close to missing too much time for an All-NBA shot: Doncic, San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, Utah’s Lauri Markkanen and Phoenix’s Devin Booker.
Luka Doncic Cade Cunningham Tyrese Haliburton Jayson Tatum Detroit Pistons Detroit San Antonio Boston MN State Wire Utah Send To Apple News OH State Wire NBA Ohio Oklahoma Colorado California Arizona WI State Wire Michigan Florida TX State Wire New York City FL State Wire Massachusetts MI State Wire CO State Wire AZ State Wire OK State Wire Wisconsin Minnesota Texas New York UT State Wire Jalen Williams Victor Wembanyama Temetrius Morant Giannis Antetokounmpo Los Angeles Lakers Stephen Curry Nikola Jokic Kawhi Leonard National Basketball Association Evan Mobley NBA All-Star Game Devin Booker Sports Lauri Markkanen NBA Basketball Anthony Davis Lebron James Austin Reaves
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