Marcus Morris goes light on the varnish. He neither minces nor wastes words. Ask him a question, you’re going to get an answer: concise and blunt, usually.

So ask Morris what his expectations are for the four-game road trip facing the Pistons this week with the playoff race narrowing as the season flies past the three-quarter pole, he says, “We need ’em all. It’s not a three and one or two and two – no, we need ’em all.”

Tall order, because three of the teams the Pistons will play over the next six days are in roughly the same state of desperation – or urgency, if you like that word better.

The Pistons, 32-31 and a half-game behind Chicago for the No. 8 playoff spot, open Wednesday at Dallas, where the Mavs – on a three-game losing streak following Monday’s thumping from the Clippers – are tied with Portland at 33-31 in the sixth and seventh spots and are three games ahead of Utah, the No. 9 team. Then they sandwich a trap game at Philadelphia between meetings with two of the East teams battling with them for the final four playoff berths, Charlotte and Washington.

So Stan Van Gundy must be polishing his “damn the torpedoes” speech, right?

Nope.

“They know,” he said of his players and their plight. “They know where it is. I’ve been worried. Sometimes, lately, when we’ve tried to point it out, I think it’s actually backfired. I think we just need to go out and play. We should be trying to win every game anyway, so it shouldn’t be more urgency. You’re supposed to be playing every game to win, anyhow, and see where it ends up.”

The Pistons have 19 remaining games and when they put the four-game trip behind them, 11 of the final 15 come at The Palace – including nine straight. But they’ve got to at least hold their own on the trip to make that nine-game home stand meaningful.

Anthony Tolliver, third in NBA experience among his teammates and a respected voice in the locker room, echoed Van Gundy’s steady-as-she-goes approach.

“The way we’ve prepared all year is just worrying about the next game,” he said. “Trying to get better each day in practice. Each game, taking a step in the right direction. We have 19 games left. I feel like we’re going in the right direction.”

Van Gundy appreciates Tolliver’s impact on the locker room, but he’d really like his contributions on the court again. Tolliver, out the past seven games with a right knee sprain, will miss the Dallas game but could be back at some point on the trip. The return of Stanley Johnson, who’s missed six games with a right shoulder sprain, is less certain. He didn’t participate in Tuesday’s practice. Jodie Meeks, out since the Oct. 29 home opener with a broken foot, is “closer” but not necessarily “close,” Van Gundy said.

The Pistons have won five of seven and are coming off a 20-point thrashing of Portland, despite the shorter bench. They’ll need more of the same from Reggie Bullock, who’s provided 3-point shooting and defense while filling in for Johnson, plus consistent production from a starting unit that’s provided that – with the glaring exception of Saturday’s loss at New York – since Tobias Harris moved into the starting lineup seven games ago. The Pistons have creeped up to 18th in offensive efficiency despite ranking 28th in shooting and 30th in foul shooting. Harris makes them a more diverse offensive team.

“In the starting lineup,” Van Gundy agrees. “With the guys out, we’ve probably had fewer options off the bench. But in the starting lineup, yeah, and I think the ball has moved better. Both Marcus and Tobias have contributed to that. They’re both guys who move the ball and I think that’s helped us, having two guys like that.”

At the other end, the Pistons have rebounded since the All-Star break defensively with Andre Drummond’s improved rim protection and the greater flexibility to switch on the perimeter Harris’ addition has allowed the key factors.

“It’s been a lot better,” Van Gundy said of Drummond’s defense. “He’s really, really working and that’s the main thing for him. If he works hard, if he’s energetic, he’ll make a lot of good plays.”

Just as Van Gundy pores over videotape with Reggie Jackson to help him gain better insight into his pick-and-roll decision making, so has he done it with Drummond on defense.

“Mainly showing him his good plays,” Van Gundy said. “What he’s capable of doing. He’s been great on the boards, defensively, he’s getting back better. His commitment’s been good.”

His, everybody’s – it has to be good, really good, consistently good over the final 19 games. Van Gundy knows it. And he knows his players know it. So he’s not going to make dramatic speeches to belabor the point.

“We’ve got to be more consistent,” he said. “We have to play well in more than every other game. Every other game’s not going to get it done. We’ve played outstanding against some very good teams this year. We’re capable. But we’ve got to – we’ve got 19 games – we’re going to have to get 15 of those.”

Starting with one, of course.