The Detroit Pistons will face the Washington Wizards for the third time this season with eighth place at stake and the arrival of Wayne Ellington.
The battle for a place in the NBA Playoffs begins to intensify just a few days before the All-Star break. In the Eastern Conference, seeds 6-11 have plenty of possibilities to reach a place among the best eight. Every game counts and the Detroit Pistons know it; that’s why tonight, when they face the Washington Wizards, they must leave everything on the floor to continue climbing stepladders.
The ones led by Dwane Casey have taken the ninth place on the East standings for a good part of the season, but last night’s loss of the Miami Heat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors, has given the Detroit team a tie in 8th place alongside the Heat, maintaining both a record of 25 wins and 29 setbacks.
Detroit has a unique but complicated opportunity to maintain that eighth place (and keep dreaming of climbing on the standings) when they meet the Wizards for the third time this season tonight. In the two previous meetings, the triumphs for both have been divided: 106-95 in favor of the Pistons in December and 101-87 for Washington in January.
The Wizards have won their last two games against the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls, and arrive with a renewed roster and a fresh attitude. The arrival of Bobby Portis and Jabari Parker to Washington has given them a new look and they hope to get fully involved in the fight for the Playoffs.
On the other hand, the Pistons already have among their roster the newcomer Wayne Ellington, who declared on Sunday that he feels committed to the team (at least in the short term), to go for that Playoff push. His role with the team is not yet defined, but I believe he will start next to Reggie Jackson, Bruce Brown, Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond.
Speaking of Andre, since his return from the contusion protocol, he has averaged monstrous numbers of 17 points, 15 rebounds and almost three blocks per game.
In addition to that, he’s coming off his best game of the season against the New York Knicks (and DeAndre Jordan), in which he scored 29 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, achieving his ninth 20-20 game this season (leads NBA).
Another player who seems to feel increasingly comfortable with his role in the team and it shows, is Jackson, who has almost a month averaging excellent numbers in points, assists and field goal percentage,compared to what he had been doing since the beginning of the season until recent games.
Detroit’s “Big three” had a great performance against the Knicks with Drummond, Griffin (26 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) and Jackson (20 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 turnover). If the Pistons want to achieve important things this season, this must happen on a consistent basis.
If Detroit manages to succeed tonight, they will have won 5 of their last 6 games (it still hurts me to think about the game against the Los Angeles Clippers) and will only have to pay a visit to the Boston Celtics before reaching the All-Star Weekend break.
The Detroit Pistons have everything to win this game: they are at home, better adapted Svi and Thon Maker, and the addition of Ellington.
This does nothing but excite all of us who are fans of this team. If the team’s game continues to be clicking as before and the “Big Three” next to the new additions are able to connect, we will not only fight for the eighth place, but a 6th place is highly achievable for Motown.
“It Starts Here”.