NBA power rankings roundup, Week 18: Pistons drop important games, fall in rankings

	Last Week: 21 This Week: 23

It's hard to imagine Stan Van Gundy will let Reggie Jackson continue putting up 17.3 field goals per game while shooting 33 percent from the field. It hasn't exactly been a great start for the newly-matched couple.

Ugh, I didn't know what the number was but I knew it was too large. Looks like (jokingly) Brandon Jennings pre-Stan Van Gundy. I understand he wants to be here, and he wants to make a difference, but he needs to understand that he is not top dog.

	Last Week: 15 This Week: 22

The good news: Detroit is one of six teams firmly in the hunt for the East's final two playoff spots. The bad news: Our friends at numberFire.com rate the Pistons as only a 12.9 percent shot to snag one of them, behind Indiana (48.4 percent), Charlotte (45.1), Miami (41.2), Brooklyn (33.0) and Boston (19.7).

I can see us behind Indiana because of the possibility of Paul George coming back, but I'm not sure we're that far behind the other teams, especially Boston. But Jerebko has been playing great for them. See what happens when he gets playing time!?!?!?

	Last Week: 18 This Week: 23

The family for late Pistons player and coach Earl Lloyd, the first black player in NBA history, is expected to have a memorial service in his honor in late March.

In respect for the Lloyd family, I am sorry for their loss. But Yahoo!, this is the Power Rankings. How much does the memorial service for Earl affect the 2014-15 Detroit Pistons in your NBA Power Rankings? Oh, I get it. His passing is part of the reason for the three game losing streak, the players are just devastated.

	Last Week: 19 This Week: ??

It appears CBS may not put one up this week (unless they're having a problem publishing stuff).

	Last Week: 19 This Week: 23

Free agent-to-be Greg Monroe's scoring has gone up in every month.

More on this in a minute...

	Last Week: 14 This Week: 22

Having lost three straight games, the Pistons are losing sight of the playoff chase, with the fewest home games remaining (nine) in the league. Five of those, including Sunday's game against the Hornets, are sandwiched between road trips. They've been better, especially defensively, with just one big on the floor since the Reggie Jackson addition.

Instead of having to click on the twitter link NBA.com provided, here it is:

Nothing new here, but Pistons (1-3) better w/ just one big on the floor since Jackson addition. Tolliver is a +27. pic.twitter.com/xFg0r6nbeI

— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) March 1, 2015

Expect to see this dove into as well as kept up with the rest of the season. However, NBA.com does show what a tough climb it is going to be as we have the fewest home games left. However, they have been playing better this year on the road than at home. So maybe that's a good thing?

I wonder what it means where USAToday says Monroe's scoring has gone up each month and yet since Reggie's acquisition, the offense runs better with Drummond on the floor. I doubt the better offensive rating is because Drummond is being a beast on offense (though he's been good) as much as it is they aren't likely getting him the ball that often when he's the only big on the floor.

Overall

Weekly Forecast

Remember, these are the results we want, not what they are likely to be.

Monday

• Toronto at Philadelphia - Toronto
• Golden State at Brooklyn - Golden State
• Phoenix at Miami - Phoenix

Tuesday

• LA Lakers at Charlotte - LA Lakers
• Boston at Cleveland - Cleveland
• Sacramento at New York - Sacramento
• Houston at Atlanta - Atlanta (...you know...Smith)
• Washington at Chicago - Chicago
• Milwaukee at Denver - Denver

Wednesday

• New York at Indiana - New York
• Phoenix at Orlando - Phoenix
• Utah at Boston - Utah
• Charlotte at Brooklyn - Tough one...Brooklyn
• Cleveland at Toronto - Toronto
• Detroit at New Orleans - Detroit, DUH!!!
• Philadelphia at Oklahoma City - Oklahoma City
• LA Lakers at Miami - LA Lakers
• Milwaukee at Golden State - Golden State

Thursday

• Oklahoma City at Chicago - Oklahoma City

Friday

• Toronto at Charlotte - Toronto
• Chicago at Indiana - Chicago
• Sacramento at Orlando - Sacramento
• Utah at Philadelphia - Utah
• Miami at Washington - Washington
• Cleveland at Atlanta - Atlanta
• Phoenix at Brooklyn - Phoenix
• Detroit at Houston - Detroit, DUH!!!
• Boston at New Orleans - New Orleans

Saturday

• Phoenix at Cleveland - Phoenix
• Sacramento at Miami - Sacramento
• Indiana at New York - New York
• Atlanta at Philadelphia - Atlanta
• Washington at Milwaukee - Milwaukee??

Sunday

• Utah at Brooklyn - Utah
• Charlotte at Detroit - Detroit, DUH!!!
• Boston at Orlando - Orlando
• Toronto at Oklahoma City - Oklahoma City
• Chicago at San Antonio - San Antonio