With just five losses thus far in the 2005-2006 campaign, the Pistons have already clinched the best record in the Eastern Conference at the All-Star break, meaning new head coach Flip Saunders will have the honors in Houston.

They were just 23-14 after 37 games last season, compared to their 32-5 mark this year.

Not only have the Pistons won consistently, if not pretty much constantly, they have flat out dominated their opponents.  Nineteen of their 32 wins have been by double-digit margins.

They defeated the Knicks by 26 points on Thursday and legitimately they are 26 points better than a team like the Knicks - Marbury or no Marbury.  They laid a Grade A embarrassment on a Knicks team that featured a line-up with all five starters born in the 80?s.  This was an embarrassment that was only trumped by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and their awkwardly tragic halftime performance.

Thursday?s game highlighted so many things about what makes the Pistons the best team in the NBA.  Through the penetration of Billups, who had 13 assists but just 2 points, the Knicks defense was forced to collapse, leading to kick-outs after kick-out and wide-open three after wide-open three, making 12 of their 25 3-point attempts.  This has become routine for Detroit this year and the Bulls are the only other club to shoot over 40% from 3-point territory this year.

It helps when your power forward may just be your best pure shooter. Over the past year, it become my contention that Rasheed Wallace is the purest shooter at the power forward position that I have ever seen play, if not the purest ever.  Let me know another name if you can think of one, because I genuinely would like to know.

?He?s the best I?ve ever played with, with his inside/outside game,? said Billups about Wallace on Thursday when asked that very question.  ?His feel for the game is something that people don?t talk about a lot.?

Wallace has made at least two three-pointers in 25 of the Pistons 37 games this season, shooting at a clip of nearly 42%, the best of his career, up from his career average of 34%.

The most remarkable aspect of the Pistons approach to their game is how uncomfortable it is to play them.  Against a typical opponent, there are maybe two or three times per game when you are forced to mentally sweat, double that if you?re a point guard, but against the Pistons, every offensive possession is an absolute chore.  They contest every pass and every shot and thus are averaging a +7 on their turnover ratio for the season, by far the best in the league.

Defense surely remains the staple of Pistons? basketball, always has been and always will be, but their ability to get easy buckets, both in their halfcourt sets and in transition, is what makes this club superior to the 2003-2004 championship squad.  As good as that team was, Rasheed Wallace was still a rent-a-player, TayShaun Prince was just a maturing second-year player (Reggie Miller block shots aside) and Chauncey Billups was only beginning to develop into the gutty David Ortiz/Mark Messier/Joe Montana he is today.

Detroit has made a carbon copy of that intensity and carried it over to the offensive end, undoubtedly the biggest change of the Flip Saunders regime.

?Offensively, he gives us the freedom,? said Billups when I asked him what has been Flip?s most influential stamp on the club so far.  

?We just picked our pace up this year,? said Prince.  ?Try to get easy shots, attack on the fastbreak.  It?s not the fact that we have more freedom (under Flip), it?s when you move the ball, those (open) shots will be there.?

And doesn?t Flip look a whole lot smarter right now than he did this time last year when he was a dead man walking the halls of the Target Center?

And don?t the Pistons look like they?ll waltz to the Finals for the third consecutive year?  ?They already have a 2-0 lead on the Spurs, in this season?s best of nine series?

Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM.com and can be reached at [email protected].