It’s time to head east from San Francisco on Interstate 80 toward the Midwest and Detroit Rock City on this entry in our NBA Tuesday miniseries exploring the best sabermetric-rated teams in each franchise’s history. The Detroit Pistons started up 76 seasons ago as the Fort Wayne Pistons in the old BAA. As a founding member of the NBA, the Pistons later moved to Detroit (1957). Three championships later, here we are.

The organization has 42 playoff appearances and 11 division titles to go with the three titles (1989, 1990, 2004)—but only one of those champions makes this list, strangely. A lot of sabermetrics come down to non-surface numbers, but regular-season record still factors strongly as the results of the games being played. After all, if a team is good sabermetrically, it should be winning most of the time any way, right?

No. 5: 1996-97 Detroit Pistons

This is a pretty random team to make the list, in truth, between the two championship eras for the Piston. The 54-28 record led to the No. 6 ranking in the overall SRS, built upon the No. 24 offense and the No. 2 defense … and that was some defense to compensate for the bricklayers. With a third-place finish in the Central Division, though, the playoff draw was rough: neither team topped 88 ppg in the five-game set.

Small forward Grant Hill (14.6 Win Shares), shooting guard Joe Dumars (8.8), and center Otis Thorpe (7.9) led this team on the floor, blending the new with the old. The postseason series against the Atlanta Hawks was a defensive grind, as the two teams were division rivals, too. Detroit ran out of gas after going up 2-1 in the matchup: the Pistons then lost Game 4 at home by 12 points (!) and Game 5 on the road by 5 points.

No. 4: 1987-88 Detroit Pistons

Despite a mere 54-28 record, this version of the Bad Boys finished No. 2 in the overall SRS rankings while winning the Central title. The Pistons were No. 8 on offense and No. 3 on defense, as they made a run to the NBA Finals. Oddly, the Washington Bullets pushed Detroit to the limit in the first round, but then the Pistons dispatched the Chicago Bulls and the Boston Celtics, somewhat easily, before fate intervened.

The roster had seven players who notched at least 5.9 WS—led by SF Adrian Dantley (9.4) and C Bill Laimbeer (8.8). Against the Bullets, though, the first four games were all single-digit affairs before the Pistons won Game 5 by 21 points. Then Detroit needed to five games to eliminate Michael Jordan and six to defeat Larry Bird. But the Finals against the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers went the distance.

No. 3: 2005-06 Detroit Pistons

One year after the Pistons lost one of the ugliest NBA Finals ever, this squad returned to the postseason with a 64-18 record and a Central Division crown. Detroit was ranked No. 2 in the overall SRS rankings, and it had the No. 19 offense and the No. 3 defense. The Piston dispatched the Milwaukee Bucks in five games before escaping LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven. But then the Miami Heat showed up.

Point guard Chauncey Billups (15.5 WS) was top dog here, supported by C Ben Wallace (10.1) and PF Rasheed Wallace (8.9). The former Wallace was in his defensive prime, too. The Cavs actually led 3-2 in that series, before Detroit won the last two games by a combined 20 points. Still, that left the Pistons drained for Dwyane Wade and the Heat: the visitors stole Game 1 on the road and never looked back in a six-game win.

No. 2: 1988-89 Detroit Pistons

The first championship team in franchise history was on a mission after losing in the Finals the previous year (see above). With a 63-19 record, Detroit won the Central and finished No. 4 in the overall SRS rankings with the No. 16 offense and the No. 2 defense. The Pistons lost just twice on their way to the championship, rolling over Boston (three games), Milwaukee (four), Chicago (six), and Los Angeles (four).

This rotation went eight deep, from Laimbeer (9.0 WS) and SF Dennis Rodman (8.1) down to PF John Salley (3.5). Eliminating the aging Celtics was easy (plus-10.7 ppg), while outgunning the Bucks was fun (plus-11.8 ppg). Beating Jordan and the Bulls was getting tougher (plus-4.2 ppg), and Detroit gained some revenge by sweeping the Lakers with determination, focus, and grit by plus-6.7 ppg. Mission accomplished!

No. 1: 2007-08 Detroit Pistons

We feel this is a pretty random team to make it to the top of the Pistons’ pile, but it is what it is. With a 59-23 record, Detroit won the Central and finished No. 4 in the SRS rankings. The Pistons fielded the No. 17 offense and the No. 1 defense. After beating the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round (six games) and the Orlando Magic in the second (five), Detroit had the misfortunate of facing eventual champion Boston next.

Billups (13.5 WS) led this team readily, as five others players finished with 6.3-7.7 WS on the season. The Pistons won Games 5 and 6 against the Sixers by 20 ppg, and then they scraped by the Magic in Games 4 and 5 by a combined 6 points. However, the Celtics had bought a free-agent lineup prior to the regular season, and it paid off in the conference finals: Boston won Games 5 and 6 by 12 points total to close it out.