The Detroit Pistons get the return of Ish Smith in tonight’s game against the Utah Jazz. The Pistons could move into a tie for eighth seed with a win.
The Detroit Pistons ended their losing streak against the LA Clippers, and look to continue their winning ways against the Utah Jazz.
Along with continuing their winning ways and moving up in the standings, there’s bigger news in this game for the Pistons.
Ish Smith, who has been out since December 5th with a groin injury, is returning tonight. This is incredible news for the Pistons.
In Smith’s absence, the Pistons have had to rely on the ghost of Jose Calderon to give them big minutes. In some cases, Dwane Casey gave Calderon just as many minutes as Reggie Jackson, which isn’t on Calderon but that’s for another day.
When Smith was playing, he gave the Pistons a change of pace point guard who excelled at getting the most out of the bench production.
Smith is also just a tad good enough for the Pistons to survive some games when Casey decided to play their backup point guard more than the starter; Calderon very clearly is not.
When Smith was on the court before the injury, the Pistons were playing with a pace of 103.65.
With Smith off the court, the Pistons have played with a pace of 98.22 which is good for 23rd in the NBA.
The Pistons hope that Smith can return and quickly bring back the spark he gave this team earlier in the year.
However, the Pistons must worry about getting revenge on their opponent tonight.
Last time the Pistons played the Jazz, they had a 18 point lead after a 31 point first quarter.
They held Donovan Mitchell down for the first three quarters, but allowed him to explode in the fourth quarter on his way to 26 points on 10-21 shooting.
Mitchell famously blamed a fan after this game for sparking his fourth quarter explosion, saying what looked to be, “you did this!” at the fan during the game.
The Pistons will need to hold Mitchell in check if they plan to beat the Jazz tonight.
The Jazz, who’ve won 5 of their last seven games, are tied for the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
The Pistons are a half game behind the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, so it’s fair to say this game means a lot for both teams.
The Detroit Pistons will look to extend their winning streak to two tonight in Utah at 9:00 pm eastern time.