The first-place Detroit Pistons continue to roll through their early schedule without many major roadblocks along the way, going 8-2 over the last 10 games. The matchups will start to heat up though, as a three-game road trip kicked off last night in Denver. Things got started off on the ri ght foot with a narrow win, but future challenges lie ahead in Phoenix and Golden State. 1. The best against the best? Despite a tough home loss to Houston on Friday, Detroit owns the best record in the Eastern Conference against teams with winning records (15–6), a 71% win rate that actually tops every team in the league, including Oklahoma City. They’re also 4–1 against the East’s top four, taking three of four from Boston and dismantling New York by 31 in their lone meeting. That résumé comes with a caveat: Detroit has played the fewest games within that group and has only faced one of the West’s top three teams — a short-handed Denver squad. They have yet to face Oklahoma City or San Antonio. 2. Elite on the glass A lost art in today’s spacing-and-shooting NBA is dominating the glass – and the Pistons are elite in that area. Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart have stayed relatively healthy and anchored Detroit’s rebounding presence, while Cade Cunningham and Ausar Thompson are standout rebounders for their positions. That physicality and effort seem to cascade through the entire roster. Detroit ranks fourth in the NBA in net rebound margin (+4.8) and fourth in offensive rebounds per game (13.4). That dominance translates directly into more possessions: the Pistons also rank first in net field goal attempts per game (+4.6). What they lack in consistent perimeter shooting, they compensate for by creating extra opportunities — something that consistently shows up on film. All stats prior to Tuesday’s game against Denver. 3. Who is the number two option? As is well-established, contending teams need a primary playmaker who can carry them through stretches – and the Pistons clearly have that in Cade Cunningham. What championship teams also tend to feature is a reliable secondary option who can tilt games when the star is bottled up. Last year, it was Jalen Williams. The year before, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum carried the Celtics together. And so on. Detroit has several candidates in theory, but the questions remain: will someone separate themselves, and is that player good enough in that role to sustain production through multiple playoff series? Jalen Duren has emerged as a scorer but is largely confined to the paint. Duncan Robinson and Tobias Harris are savvy veterans, yet somewhat one-dimensional in how they generate offense. That leaves Jaden Ivey and Dannis Jenkins – but both primarily operate when Cunningham is off the floor rather than alongside him. Or does Detroit need to look externally to fill that void? Time will tell. ...read more read less