Detroit Pistons: 3 takeaways after the first 20 games

The Detroit Pistons have had a good first quarter of the season. Through 20 games, they are fourth in the Eastern Conference, and they’re getting better.

The Detroit Pistons are right around a quarter of the way through the 2018-19 NBA season, the first year of the Dwane Casey era.

We’ve seen Blake Griffin go off for 50 points on his quest to challenge for the MVP crown. Reggie Jackson has been healthy for every game, and the team is actually fourth in the Eastern Conference right now.

This team appears ahead of schedule so far, which is something you love to see for a team that hasn’t had a lot of positivity over the past few years.

Detroit ranks 13th in offensive rating and seventh in defensive rating, which are both improvements over last year when they ranked 19th and 10th, respectively. They still have room for improvement as they are one of the worst teams in the NBA at shooting 3-pointers, ranking 25th team in true shooting percentage.

December and January are the months of the season that can matter the most at the end of the year. If the Pistons are able to play how they have so far, they’ll be set up greatly in their push back to the playoffs. Without further delay, it’s time to discuss what has happened so far, and how we have gotten to our current point.