Quietly winning 5 games in a row! Ranked first in the league! A dark horse in the Eastern Conference is born, Cunningham gains a golden partner

In the new season, many teams in the East and West have risen to prominence, and the league landscape is changing rapidly. Every team that has achieved a long winning streak deserves respect! In the West, the defending champion Thunder have won an 8-game winning streak, and the Rockets and Lakers have both won a 5-game winning streak. The current longest winning streak is the Nuggets' 4-game winning streak. Without exception, these teams are contenders for the championship! The Eastern side is even more chaotic. The king's flag changes at the top of the city - the 76ers started with 4 consecutive wins to win the Eastern Conference. The Bulls then overturned the 76ers face-to-face and won 5 consecutive victories instead. Now, the longest winning streak in the Eastern Conference is the Pistons' 5 consecutive wins. This team has transformed into a dark horse in the Eastern Conference, which is impressive.

The glory of the Pistons has passed for many years. The guard who won the last championship was former Trail Blazers coach Billups, and the latter is about to face prison! Two years ago, the Pistons suffered a 28-game losing streak, tying the single-season losing streak in NBA history. Fortunately among misfortunes, the Pistons learned their shame and gained courage, and got up from the ruins of their fall! Last season, they went straight to the playoffs with a record of 44 wins and 38 losses, and nearly overturned the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs. In a sense, this failed series is a milestone in the Pistons' accelerated rise. During this offseason, the Pistons made small improvements on the basis of the original team, introducing Dun Luo, LeVert, Jawante Green, Paul Reed and other puzzle pieces. But having said that, when looking at the prospects of the Eastern Conference teams, the Knicks and Cavaliers are still the main theme, and many people only regard the Pistons as a spoiler at best.

In the opening game against the Bulls, the Pistons were hit hard by their opponents. They lost by 16 points in the first quarter and dug a big hole. Even though they made a crazy counterattack in the final quarter and won by 11 points in a single quarter, the Pistons still lost by 4 points and suffered a bad start. However, in the next 8 games, the Pistons achieved a good record of 7 wins and 1 loss, and quietly won a wave of 5 consecutive victories, ranking first in the Eastern Conference with a record of 7 wins and 2 losses. Among them, against the Rockets, the Pistons narrowly defeated their opponents by 4 points; against the Celtics, the Pistons narrowly defeated their opponents by 6 points; against the Magic, the Pistons beat their opponents by 19 points; against the Mavericks, Jazz and Nets, the Pistons beat their opponents by more than 10 points in every game.

I don’t deny that it was not easy for the Pistons to win against the Rockets and the Celtics. I also don’t deny that the Pistons’ opponents in this wave of five-game winning streak are at the lower level of the league. But having said that, for young guards like the Pistons, they can only taste the joy of winning streaks to wash away the shame of the losing streak. In this process, the Pistons relied on defense to survive, and their offense was also very organized. Many offensive and defensive statistics ranked among the best in the league. According to statistics from the NBA's official website, so far, the Pistons rank first in the league in interior scoring (60.7), second in the league in blocks (6.4) and limiting opponent's field goal percentage (42.4%), third in the league in rebounds (47.9) and defensive efficiency (109.6), and fourth in the league in fast break points (19.2).

The Pistons have returned to No. 1 in the Eastern Conference after many years, and Cunningham deserves the most credit! So far this season, Cunningham has played in 9 games, averaging 25.6 + 4.8 rebounds + 9.7 assists (second in the league) + 1 steal + 2 three-pointers per game. Cunningham is tall, has a balanced offense and defense, is better in organization than Brunson, and has better offense than Trae Young. He is the strongest ball-handling core in the East and is trustworthy. The rise of the Pistons is also inseparable from the growth of Duren. He alone holds up half of the sky inside the Pistons. In the new season, Duren played 9 games, averaging 19.2 points + 11.3 rebounds + 1.6 assists + 1.2 blocks per game, and his shooting percentage was as high as 64.7%. According to statistics, Duren ranks second in the league in second-offense scoring (4.8 points), second only to Jokic (5.1 points); his score in the penalty area is as high as 13.6 points, ranking fifth in the league, second only to Antetokounmpo (23.3 points), Jokic (15.1 points), Ayton (14.4 points) and Johnson (14 points).

There is no doubt that Duren is Cunningham's golden partner, and the dual-core of Cunningham + Duren is the future and cornerstone of the Pistons. In the words of Pistons coach Bickerstaff, the combination of Cunningham and Duren is extremely intimidating and difficult to defend. They both have organizational and scoring abilities and work well together. Their future is limitless! All in all, the Pistons are striding forward on the right path to rise. I believe the Pistons will give Duren a big contract, and it may only be a matter of time before the Pistons regain their glory. Fan friends, what do you think of this? Come and leave me a comment to discuss.