Detroit Pistons: 3 overreactions through first 4 games

3. They are a top Eastern Conference team

Currently, the Pistons are one of three remaining undefeated teams in the Eastern Conference, with the other two being the Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks. Coming into the season, the Pistons were expected to finish between seventh and 11th place in the East, but they would be the 3-seed if the season ended today. Unfortunately for them, there is a long way to go before it’s over.

Despite this strong start, the difficulty of the opponents they’ve faced thus far has to be taken into account. They beat the Bulls and Nets, who are expected to finish in the bottom group of the conference, along with the 76ers, who were without their second-best player in point guard Ben Simmons. The Pistons may end up being better than expected, but they still can’t be expected to finish in the top three of the conference.

Players have been playing above their heads, and their schedule is going to get more difficult. More than likely, players will regress to the mean in terms of their production, which will drag down the team’s overall ceiling. This team isn’t built to be a title contender yet, so it’s more than likely we don’t see the Pistons finishing within the top three in the Eastern Conference by the end of the season.