Pistons already showing their place in playoff power ranking is wrong

The Detroit Pistons proved their success isn't a flash in the pan with a strong 111-101 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Pistons star guard Cade Cunningham led the team with 23 points and seven assists in the opening win, but it was a team effort, as Tobias Harris notched 20 points and eight rebounds, Duncan Robinson had 19 points and made five three-pointers and Jalen Duren helped late in the matchup.

So, the Pistons are playing this series like they have something to prove, and they do. Before the series began, the official team power rankings from NBA.com had the Pistons down at No. 7 out of 8 teams left in the NBA playoffs, and fans can't be happy about it.

Pistons near the bottom of power rankings for NBA playoffs

In the ranking from John Schuhmann of NBA.com, the team was only ahead of the 76ers.

"The Cavs will probably look to get the ball out of Cunningham's hands more than the Magic did," Schuhmann wrote. "They also have more defenders that he might want to target in the pick-and-roll than Orlando, though the guy James Harden was defending set only two ball-screens for Cunningham in the one Pistons-Cavs game that Harden played in."

Schuhmann also sent a warning that the Cavaliers "will be a much harder offense to defend than that of the Magic."

Game 1 of the Pistons-Cavaliers series shows that Cunningham and company are in it to win it. So far, Detroit is meeting the challenge, but, of course, it's early in the series, so anything can, and will, happen, because that's how things go in the NBA.