There are few playoff obstacles Detroit hasn't had to deal with during its run of six consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference finals.

But the challenge that awaits them now is unlike anything they've ever had.

Detroit begins its postseason journey Saturday as the Eastern Conference's eighth seed, a far departure from their usual upper-tier status in the East.

That means the Pistons' first playoff game will be on the road, another first for this group, at Cleveland's Q Arena which is the toughest place in the NBA to win a game.

The LeBron James-led Cavaliers team they will face is not only playing well, but better than any team in the league this season.

To put it in perspective, the Cavs' 66 regular season wins is a franchise record and makes them just the 12th team in NBA history to tally 66 or more regular season wins.

Piston veterans like Rasheed Wallace have often talked about how this team loves challenges.

Now they've got one, maybe the toughest this group has ever had going into a playoff series.

"They got a pretty good record now, a pretty good home record," Wallace said of the Cavs. "They're feeling (good about) themselves now. It's going to be David versus Goliath."

The Pistons have been in similar playoff battles in the past, but rarely have they been underdogs of this magnitude.

Detroit coach Michael Curry understands that his team is being given little if any chance of beating Cleveland in a game, let alone winning the series.

But having been a Pistons assistant last season, Curry remembers how the Pistons went into their first-round series against Philadelphia heavily favored only to lose Game 2 at home and Game 3 in Philadelphia.

"We played our best half of Basketball in Game 4, or we would have been down 3-1," Curry said. "As we know, it's 0-0. We just have to start playing good Basketball starting on Saturday."

But that's easier said than done, especially when you consider how inconsistent the Pistons have been all season.

Even in games in which they seemingly had under control this season, they Pistons far too often found ways to give it away. Detroit lost 12 games this season in which they led at the beginning of the fourth quarter. A year earlier, they only lost five such games. And the 12 fourth-quarter losses doesn't include the numerous other games in which they led in the fourth but allowed an opponent to close the game on a run and get the win.

In the regular season finale at Miami on Wednesday, Detroit had a 94-91 lead with less than three minutes to play in the overtime period. However, the Heat closed the game with an 11-2 run for the victory.

But Richard Hamilton isn't focusing on the problems of the regular season.

Instead, he's more concerned with the promise that the playoffs provides.

"The (regular) season is over," Hamilton said. "The playoffs, it's a totally different season. Getting ready for the playoffs, the last couple of years ... everybody has been waiting for the playoffs. So it's time to go ahead and make a run. It's going to be a lot tougher this year than any other year, finishing eighth (in the East). But we have to find a way to win."

That would be a change for the better, as the Pistons head into the playoffs riding an unprecedented losing skid. For the first time in franchise history, the Pistons head into the postseason having lost its last three regular season games.

"It's bad, but that's the end of the regular season," Wallace said. "We just have to go out there and play Basketball. We know our matchups. We know what we have to do. I think we'll be prepared. We'll be ready."

Said Hamilton: "We got no choice now. The playoffs are here. You really have to put everything behind you. You just have to come out and be ready to play. Everybody knows it's been a long season, with so many different things going on. But you have to put all that behind you, and just say 'let's go out and try and win some games.' "