One-third of the way through the regular season, the Detroit Pistons are right where they expected to be -- still among the NBA's elite teams.
And lately, they've turned up their offense a notch while continuing to play stingy defense.
Detroit is averaging 98.8 points per game, 15th-best in the league but the club's highest average since 1999-2000.
The Pistons are giving up 89.7 points per game, second only to Boston's 86.6.
The Celtics have the NBA's best record at 22-3. Detroit is 20-7, including five straight wins heading into tomorrow night's game against the Nets at New Jersey. One of those five wins was an 87-85 victory against the Celtics last week in Boston.