The Detroit Pistons are in New Orleans on Monday night for a matchup with the Pelicans.
The Detroit Pistons (21-17) kick off a three-game road trip with a matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans (19-19) on Monday night.
The last few weeks have been a battle of attrition for the Pistons. Starting point guard Reggie Jackson is out for an extended period of time due to a grade three ankle sprain he suffered on December 26, Stanley Johnson has missed the past four games with a hip flexor injury, Avery Bradley missed seven games in the back half of December with a groin injury and just recently returned, and Andre Drummond has sat out two of Detroit’s last three games with bruised ribs. Oh, and Jon Leuer hasn’t played in a game since Halloween with his unshakable ankle issue.
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The fact that the Pistons are 3-3 in their last six – including wins over San Antonio and Houston – and 7-4 over their past 11 games is rather astounding when you consider all the man-games lost to injury. A lot of guys have stepped up to keep the ship afloat, including Ish Smith, Reggie Bullock, Boban Marjanovic, rookie Luke Kennard, Dwight Buycks, and Eric Moreland.
Moreland got his first career start against Houston on Saturday, where he contributed eight points, eight rebounds, and sound defense, and ESPN’s Chris Haynes reported that same night that Detroit plans to guarantee his contract for the rest of the season. Talk about a good day, and he could be in line for another busy game tonight.
Drummond will be listed as questionable with his rib contusion; Stan Van Gundy has called it a pain tolerance issue. If he can’t go, Moreland will be sorely needed against the Pelicans’ frontline of Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins.
Davis is averaging 25.6 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 2.1 blocks per game, while Cousins is averaging 25.9 points, 12.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks. My guess is Drummond pushes to play against these premier big men.
Alongside Davis and Cousins, New Orleans starts Rajon Rondo, Jrue Holiday, and E’Twaun Moore. Holiday (18.2 points) and Moore (12.9 points) are the only other Pelicans besides the bigs averaging double-digit scoring.
The Pelicans have lost three of four coming into tonight and will be without Tony Allen, Solomon Hill, Alexis Ajinca, and rookie Frank Jackson due to injury. Drummond and Johnson are questionable for Detroit, while Jackson and Leuer are out.
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The Pistons and Pelicans tip off from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans at 8:00 p.m. ET.