The Detroit Pistons are on a season-worst four-game losing streak.
The Boston Celtics, meanwhile, have won 14 out of their last 17 contests, have six-time All-Star Jayson Tatum back from injury and are within 2 1/2 games of the Pistons for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
Still, Detroit head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said on Sunday that he's "not concerned" about the Celtics.
"Boston is obviously a good team, but we’re not concerned about Boston," Bickerstaff said following the Pistons' loss vs. the Miami Heat on Sunday. "Our biggest concern is making sure that we’re doing what we need to do to go out and be as good as we possibly can. We’ve got plenty of time to figure it out, and we will."
For what it's worth, Boston won three out of the regular season meetings vs. Detroit this season, all before Tatum returned to make his season debut against the Dallas Mavericks on March 6.
The Pistons missed the playoffs five straight seasons from 2020 to 2024 and failed to win more than 23 games in a season during that span.
Detroit surprised during the 2024-25 campaign though with a 44-38 mark and pushed the New York Knicks to six games in the first round of the postseason.
Now, Bickerstaff has the Pistons at 45-18, which is the highest win total for the franchise since the 2007-08 season.
"It’s the NBA, right? You look at the season, it’s long. Everybody goes through difficult times or a little bit of a rut," the 46-year-old said. "We just found ours right now. And again, we’ve got plenty of time left to do that we’ve got to do."
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