This time last week, Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy was more or less resigned to an early offseason. They had just won against the Lakers, improving their slate to five and one over their last six outings, but they remained well off the pace for the last spot in the playoffs. It remained a possibility, to be sure, but they needed to both run the table and see the Heat and/or Bucks experience a swoon the rest of the way. And so he stayed grounded while focusing on the positives. If nothing else, he saw in their modest run the potential of his Big Three. “I don’t know if we’re going to see all of it in these last two weeks, but I know that with Reggie [Jackson], Blake [Griffin], and Andre [Drummond], we have the pieces to be really good,” he argued.
As things turned out, “all of it” was a pipe dream. A right ankle injury made Griffin a scratch in the Pistons’ next outing. And the next. And the next. And considering how the description of the five-time All-Star’s ailment changed game to game from “contusion” to “sprain” to “bruise,” it’s anybody’s guess as to when he can and will return to action. To their credit, though, they’ve kept their momentum going. Yesterday’s victory against the Nets was their fifth straight, and, with five matches left on their calendar, they remain in contention for a postseason berth, albeit barely.
The key to their success? The return of Jackson from, coincidentally, a right ankle injury that hitherto compelled him to miss 37 outings. His elbow screen-and-roll action with Drummond had been propelling their offense prior to his sidelining, and it has again done the same through the last one and a half weeks. Yesterday, for instance, they combined for 42 points, never mind that the Big Penguin was ejected close to the end of the third quarter. And in the little that they’ve shared the court with Griffin, they’ve shown promise, hence Van Gundy’s bright outlook.
At this point, the Pistons aren’t likely to make the playoffs, whether or not Drummond gets suspended in their next game, and whether or not Griffin is able to suit up anytime soon. Among the obstacles on tap are the Sixers (who are angling for the third seed currently occupied by the Cavaliers) in two days and the Raptors (who want to hold off the Celtics for the top spot in the East) next week. And even assuming they sweep their remaining contests, their fate depends on a confluence of other events that need to go in their favor. In other words, they’re left to compete for pride and, in the process, wonder what could have been.
 
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.