The Pistons – yes, the Pistons – are emerging as a serious surprise story in the NBA this season

They lead the NBA in wins so far in January. They want a winning record midway through the season. They have won five of their last six games at home and they have also won five of their last six away games.

And chances are you wouldn’t guess which team fits that billing.

It’s the Detroit Pistons. Yes, the stamps.

Doormats and punchlines no more, the Pistons add themselves to the list of big surprises in the NBA this season. They are now 21-19 after winning Monday night against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, meaning they will hit the halfway mark of the season with a winning record for the first time since 2017-18.

“We believe we can beat anybody,” Pistons center Isaiah Stewart said. “That’s our belief. We’re good enough to beat any team in this league. That’s the belief we have and we believe in each other. We always pour confidence into each other to go out there and be the best versions of ourselves. When we have it collectively as a group, it’s a lot of energy — a lot of positive energy that we put out there.”

The notion of the Pistons beating anyone — literally anyone — a year ago would have been comical. It was the team that lost a record 28 straight games, the worst single-season stretch in NBA history. They were 4-37 through 41 games, making the sixth-worst start to a season ever. They were so bad that Pistons owner Tom Gores had to do the unthinkable and fire a coach in Monty Williams with five years and $65 million or so left on his contract.

This year’s Pistons started 0-4 under new coach JB Bickerstaff. The pre-season expectations of being bad looked pretty safe again. But they have now won 10 of their last 12 games and lead the NBA with seven wins so far in January. They could be a play-in team. They could be a playoff team. They might have an All-Star in Cade Cunningham. The way he’s playing right now, Cunningham — who is bidding to become Detroit’s first All-Star since Blake Griffin in 2019 — might go ahead and make plans for a trip to San Francisco next month for just that reason.

“I’m just thankful for my team, thankful for this coaching staff,” Cunningham said. “We have to keep going. We have a lot more work to do.”

The Pistons have already smashed last season’s win total of 14. They may be a few weeks away from rewarding players who went on the high side of their season-long win total, which was pegged at 25.5 by BetMGM Sportsbook. That’s happening with Cunningham — the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 draft — now looking like a bona fide breakout star with season averages of 24.5 points, 9.4 assists and 6.6 rebounds per game.

“Our job is to set him up to be successful. And then he’s got to go out there and do it,” Bickerstaff said. “Over these 40 games now, he and I and his teammates have learned a lot about each other , and how we can best help each other. And that’s what it’s all about – each of us playing our part and doing what we need to do together and collectively to just help each other, make this team as good as we possibly can .Cade knows his role and what this team needs and he has performed perfectly.”

It seems fitting that Bickerstaff will be a part of something good since he was fired by a good team in Cleveland after last season. The Cavaliers had an over-under of 48.5 wins entering the season; they are an NBA-best 33-5 right now.

Oklahoma City, Houston, Chicago, Portland, Brooklyn and Atlanta are also among the teams on pace to top their projected win totals for the season. But they won’t make it in January like the Pistons might. If that’s the metric for measuring surprises, then the Pistons might be the biggest stunner so far this season.

“The best thing about this team is finding different ways to win the game,” Bickerstaff said.

It has been a long time coming. It’s not time to start selling playoff tickets yet, Detroit. But before now, the last time the Pistons were even two games over .500 — barely above mediocre — was March 2019, nearly six years ago.

These are good signs. Signs of progress. Signs of faith. For a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game in 17 years — that’s 173 players, 10 coaches and two arenas ago — there might actually be hope this time.

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