The Detroit Pistons are the #1 seed in the East at 60-22 with a filthy 32-9 home record and outscored opponents by 8.2 points per game — everyone's sleeping on them because of a cursed home playoff losing streak, but streaks get broken! Cleveland has no injury concerns, sure, but neither do the Pistons (Huerter is a backup non-factor), and Cade Cunningham gets to cook on his home floor in the Eastern Semis. Give me the top seed as the 'underdog' at home all day long — the disrespect is FUEL.

Detroit finished the regular season at 60-22 with a +8.2 scoring differential and the 3rd-best defense in the NBA (109.6 PPG allowed), giving them a significant structural edge. Cleveland's Mitchell and Harden both struggled late in their Toronto series, and they now face a Detroit defense that suffocated Orlando — holding them to just 19 second-half points in a Game 7 elimination scenario. Detroit is fully healthy, hosting Game 1 at home, and laying only 3.5 points against a Cavs team with unresolved offensive inconsistency.