Right now, the Pistons should have no shot at finishing sixth in the East. They got beat by the lottery-bound Indiana Pacers Saturday night, seemingly banishing themselves to seventh or eighth place. But Philadelphia continues to falter, losing to Toronto on Sunday.
If the Pistons can beat Chicago tonight and Miami Wednesday - the latter a meaningless game to the Heat - the Pistons would finish at .500. They would win the tiebreaker over the Bulls because of a better conference record.
Philly would have to lose both of its remaining games for the Pistons to elevate to sixth but that's quite possible. The Sixers' remaining games are against Boston (home Tuesday) and Cleveland (road Wednesday).
If nothing else, the Pistons will finish seventh if they win their last two games. With Kevin Garnett's knee troubles, a matchup with Boston is more desirable than having the top-seeded Cavs and LeBron James smash them in the opening round.