January doesn’t get much easier for the Detroit Pistons
By Travis Gibbs
For the Detroit Pistons, it can’t much tougher than the month of December. However, January presents many of it’s own challenges.
The Detroit Pistons are limping from December into the month of January. Granted, there are three games left to be played in the month.
However, the Pistons have been chewed up and spit out by the slot of opponents they’ve faced in the last 20+ days. They’ve managed just a 2-9 record through 11 games this month.
They’ve been hit with a number of injuries during this time. Luckily it hasn’t been Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond, or Reggie Jackson.
However, losing Ish Smith hurts the reserve group. He was the spark that had that group playing fantastic basketball.
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They’ve also lost Glenn Robinson III who was in the starting lineup for a stretch of time before going down with an injury.
Put aside the injuries. The Detroit Pistons just have been exposed by the strength of their December schedule. They’ve played a lot of winning teams and have simply been outmatched.
The only team in the entire NBA to have a worse month of December is the New York Knicks. The Knicks have a 9-25 record overall and have lost 11 out of their last 13 games.
If you’re an optimistic fan, I apologize. The month of January doesn’t really get much easier.
Jan. 1 vs. Milwaukee Bucks
Jan. 2 @ Memphis Grizzlies
Jan. 5 vs. Utah Jazz
Jan. 7 vs. San Antonio Spurs
Jan. 9 @ Los Angeles Lakers
Jan. 10 @ Sacramento Kings
Jan. 12 @ Los Angeles Clippers
Jan. 14 @ Utah Jazz
Jan. 16 vs. Orlando Magic
Jan. 18 vs. Miami Heat
Jan. 19 vs. Sacramento Kings
Jan. 21 @ Washington Wizards
Jan. 23 @ New Orleans Pelicans
Jan. 25 @ Dallas Mavericks
Jan. 29 vs. Milwaukee Bucks
Jan. 31 vs. Dallas Mavericks
Only nine of their 16 games in January are against teams with a record of .500 or above. However, you have to dig past the surface a little bit.
Many of the teams they will be seeing in the month of January are from the western conference. The current state of the west is an intriguing one.
Outside of the Phoenix Suns (8-26), every team is essentially in the playoff hunt. Sitting in 14th place, the New Orleans Pelicans (15-17) are just three games behind the 8th and final playoff spot held by the Houston Rockets.
The western conference is featured in 11 out of their 16 games. They also play nine games on the road in the month of January.
The most challenging part of this schedule is going to be when they hit their four-game road trip starting on January 9 at the Staples Center against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.
They’ll see the Los Angeles Clippers and the Sacramento Kings before ending their road trip in Utah against Donovan Mitchell and the Jazz.
Four games in five days is tough, especially in the west.
With the way the Detroit Pistons have been playing, it’s hard to see them making it through the month of January with a winning record.
The optimistic fan inside me says they could be 8-8 through this stretch. The pessimistic fan inside of me says they could be 5-11 in January.
Luckily for them, they should be getting Robinson back before January starts. They should also be getting Ish Smith back from injury at the beginning of January.
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The Detroit Pistons will have to find a way to buckle down and come together as another tough month of their schedule awaits.