For the first time in six seasons, Pistons fans have something other than the draft lottery to look forward to in the month of April.  President and head coach of the team, Stan Van Gundy isn’t just excited to be there though.

Contrast to popular opinion, Stan Van Gundy is going into a playoff series with the one seed, the Cleveland Cavaliers and expecting to win.  He told the media Saturday, “Anything less than winning the series would be a disappointment”.  

There is no doubt Van Gundy is a terrific head coach and one should be sure he will work his butt off with schematics and try to win this series but schematics and strategy only go so far when facing the King, the 4 time league MVP, Lebron James.

James is 10-0 in first round playoff series and has also never lost game one of the opening round.  It’s safe to say that a win Sunday for Detroit would be very historic.  

If Detroit wins game one, that’ll mean they played a near perfect basketball game.  The Pistons have the talent to keep up with Cleveland in most aspects of the game and in some cases has an advantage as well.  Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, and Lebron James are a fantastic trio and that’s why perfection is needed in order to beat them, but the Pistons man in the middle might be able to wreak just enough havoc to cause chaos for the Cavs.  

Andre Drummond nearly averaged 15 rebounds per game this season and is a force to be reckon with.  No Cavalier should be able to keep up with him when he is at his best.  

The other facet of the game the Pistons will likely try and take advantage of can be summed up in a three letter acronym.  PNR also known as pick n’ roll.  Detroit was the best team in the league this regular season in terms of scoring off of PNR.  The Cavs were 22nd in defending the pick n’ roll.  

It’s hard to predict what will happen Sunday night for many reasons.  No matter what Pistons fans, enjoy the moment!  It’s been a long last six years and as Stan Van Gundy said, “This is just the beginning.”

Injuries: 

Pistons

Everyone on is healthy for Detroit today. 

Cavaliers

Mo Williams(leg) is out for Cleveland today. Iman Shumpert(leg) is questionable. 

Featured Image: 11alive.com