AUBURN HILLS -- As the regular season marches to a close and playoff race tightens, the Detroit Pistons are sitting in decent shape.
FiveThirtyEight, the analysis and analytics website from Nate Silver, on Monday assigned a 67 percent probability the Pistons make the NBA playoffs this season.
That's up from 50 percent one month ago, when the Pistons had an even shot of cracking the postseason.
Entering Tuesday, when the Pistons are scheduled to play at Cleveland (7 p.m., NBA TV), Detroit (33-33) is projected to finish the 2016-17 season at 41-41. That would mean an 8-8 finish down the stretch, which includes five back-to-backs and seven opponents with a winning percentage over .