Pistons sharpshooter Malik Beasley fires warning shot for rest of the league before NBA playoffs 

Malik Beasley was looking for an extension last summer when he and the Milwaukee Bucks lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Indiana Pacers. When others around the league weren't feeling like paying him what he was asking for, he decided to bet on himself and sign a one-year deal with the Detroit Pistons, who had the worst record in the league.

A year later, the Pistons are becoming the talk of the town as one of the dark horses in line to make a deep postseason run this year's playoffs, and Malik Beasley is the reason. The scoring guard has been the second-best player next to Cade Cunningham after Jaden Ivey suffered a leg injury at the beginning of the year, averaging 16.3 points per game.

In an article for The Players' Tribune, Malike Beasley had a special message for his teammates, the city of Detroit and the rest of the playoff teams ahead of his Game 1 matchup with the New York Knicks. Malik Beasley praised the culture the Pistons have developed, which he says reminds him of the last great era in Pistons' history.

"Those guys, they brought a winning culture back. That Bad Boys culture. I can still hear that voice booming through the speakers: 'DEEEE-TROIT BASKET-BALLLL!'" said Beasley about this year's Pistons squad. "You’d hear those two words, you’d know exactly what it is. It’s a state of mind. Detroit vs. Everybody. It’s a FEELING. And with this year’s team, it’s like we’re bringing that feeling back again."

The Pistons have been the NBA's biggest surprise this season, tripling their win total from last season, where they set a record for consecutive losses. Now that the team has added veterans and Cunningham has made the leap and blossomed as an All-NBA caliber player, the Pistons are ready to make noise in the postseason.

How far can Malik Beasley and Co. get in the playoffs?

Malik Beasley and the Pistons have been one of the more popular first-round upset picks in the NBA playoffs, where they will be opposite Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks. Brunson is continuing to recover from a nagging ankle sprain that has been plaguing him for the past month, leading some NBA analysts to opine that Cunningham will be the series standout player.

Regardless of how healthy each team is, this series projects to be a dogfight between two of the toughest teams in the league. Malik Beasley and the Pistons shooters will need to be on their game in order to spread the floor for Cunningham, who will be hounded by two defensive stalwarts in Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby. However, Beasley isn't ready to go home so early with his new team.

"...it’s been that way all season — all of us realizing what we can do for each other, and that the sky is the limit with this team," said Beasley about the Pistons' mindset. "It’s these young dudes like Jalen, Ausar, Ron bringing their young energy, it’s us vets bringing our vet knowledge, and it’s a feeling like we’re just getting started."

The Pistons are riding as much momentum into the postseason as anyone else in the league and they aren't satisfied with just making an appearance in the first round. They have shown that they deserve to be taken seriously, and they're ready to give the Knicks all they can handle for seven games.