They head into their final handful of games with a losing record, and they are looking at opening the playoffs in either Cleveland, Boston or Orlando.

Detroit's run of postseason success certainly seems over, just don't expect the Pistons to admit it.

"I'm crazy enough to believe that we have a chance to beat anyone in the league whenever we're healthy and playing well," coach Michael Curry said.

"We've proven that we can go on the road and win. ... More than anything I think the playoffs is when your experience comes into play more so than just in the regular season, so we believe that we can be dangerous and play well come playoff time and we expect to play well come playoff time."

Detroit has made six straight trips to the Eastern Conference finals, winning the NBA championship in 2004 and then falling a game shy of a repeat. Of course, the Pistons could always count on starting those playoff runs from a high seed, with home-court advantage.

This time, after a miserable regular season, they would visit one of the league's power teams to start off. Yet there are still reasons to believe they'd cause one of those teams problems: Nobody has more postseason experience than Detroit's core, and the Pistons have enough frontcourt size and depth to bang with the Cavaliers, Celtics or Magic.

The Pistons won their last trip to Boston and have owned Orlando in recent years, so neither matchup would scare them if they can avoid the No. 8 seed.

"Whoever's going to play them in the playoffs is going to have some trouble," said New York coach Mike D'Antoni. "They're big, they're strong, they really run."

And finally, the injury game is working in Detroit's favor. Richard Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace are back after missing a combined 25 games this season because of injuries. Allen Iverson is shelved for the season with a bad back, ending an experiment that never worked because his game didn't fit with the style the Pistons play.

Detroit hosts Chicago on Monday in a game that could determine the No. 7 seed. The Pistons aren't used to playing in a game with those kinds of stakes, but are plenty familiar with what comes afterward.

"Since I've been here, we've never experienced this, so that's why it's been kind of a culture shock to everybody," forward Tayshaun Prince said. "But it happens to everybody and hopefully everybody can stay healthy down the stretch and we can finish strong.

"Obviously if you want to be a good team in the playoffs, that's when you've got to play good, solid basketball at the end of the season. If we continue to do that, whoever we play, we'll give them a good matchup."

BOSH WATCH: Toronto fans watched Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady go on to have All-Star seasons elsewhere, and they're already worried it will happen again with Chris Bosh.

And they let Bosh know it, which is why he doesn't enjoy the 2010 speculation as much as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade seem to.

"It's always like that in Toronto, that's why it's not as much fun for me," he said. "Every day on the street, so it follows me everywhere I go. But that's what I signed up for, so can't complain."

Like his two Olympic teammates, Bosh opted against a maximum length contract when he re-signed in 2006, giving him the option to become a free agent in 2010. Of the three, he's widely viewed as the most likely to leave his team.

James is from Ohio, and Cleveland has assembled a championship contender around him. Wade has already won a title with the Heat, and few players would turn down maximum dollars to play in Miami as long as the team is good.

Bosh is from Texas, and his Raptors have quickly regressed in the last two years, falling from Atlantic Division champions to a team missing the playoffs. With his hometown Mavericks and the New York Knicks among the teams who could go after him next summer, there's some belief that the All-Star forward is so sure to leave Toronto that the Raptors may have to consider trading him first so they don't lose him for nothing.

The Raptors traded Carter to New Jersey when it was apparent his heart was no longer in playing for Toronto. McGrady took the Orlando Magic's millions when he became a free agent. So in Bosh's mind, the free agency talk he hears is quite different from James and Wade.

"I'm sure they get asked more questions than me because the level of media attention there is a lot different, so they're never going to get bombarded with it," he said. "So they're going to make fun about it. Usually when I get it, it's more serious, like people are really concerned. So it's a little different for me."

Bosh said he's happy in Toronto, adding that this season's struggles haven't made him decide he has to leave.

"It can happen anywhere," he said. "Just last season Miami struggled. They had a bad turn of events and they didn't play very well. They had the No. 2 pick and now they're a playoff team with an MVP candidate. So things can turn around and things can change very quickly."

BLAZERS BACK: Before the season started, Portland assistant coach Kaleb Canales devised a team motto. It was "1516."

The 15 was for the players who make up the Trail Blazers. The 16 was for the teams that make the playoffs. The message was that Portland would get to the postseason only if all 15 played as a team.

The Blazers did, ending the NBA's longest postseason drought. Portland hadn't made the playoffs since the 2002-03 season, also the last time it won 50 games.

Best yet for the Blazers, their first playoff game since then could come at home. Portland went into the weekend tied for fourth place in the Western Conference with San Antonio, and if the teams finish with the same record the Blazers own the tiebreaker following their 95-83 victory over the Spurs on Wednesday night.

Portland also was only two games behind Denver for the Northwest Division lead. The Blazers, one of the NBA's best home teams, host the Nuggets on Wednesday in the regular-season finale.

The longest playoff absence now shifts to the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves, who last appeared in the postseason in 2004.

BETTER BULLS: If Cleveland and Chicago met in the first round of the playoffs, the Cavaliers wouldn't be the only dominant home-court team in the series.

The Bulls have been nearly as good in their building over the last two months.

Chicago improved to 13-1 at the United Center since the All-Star break with its 113-99 victory over Philadelphia on Thursday night. Only the Cavaliers, whose only home loss all season came the week before the break, have been better.

The Bulls have outscored opponents by better than 10 points per game at home since the break.

The way Chicago has been playing, it might not have to worry about facing top-seeded Cleveland. The Bulls improved to 16-10 since the break with Thursday's victory, trailing only the power trio of the Cavs, Orlando and Boston. They also moved into seventh in the Eastern Conference and closed within 1½ games of sixth.

The improvement began after the trade-deadline deal that brought John Salmons and Brad Miller from Sacramento just days after it was reported that general manager John Paxson was planning to resign. Instead, he acquired the two additions to the Bulls' rotation that have allowed them to overcome the loss of Luol Deng to a leg injury.

"No question, (the trade) revitalized this city with their Bulls, they way they're playing and I know it's revitalized John Paxson," TNT's Doug Collins said during Thursday's broadcast. "They feel very good about the direction they are headed now."

AP Sports Writer Anne Peterson in Portland contributed to this report.