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What Christian Wood’s injury means for the Detroit Pistons

By Nicolas Henkel

DETROIT, MI - DECEMBER 6: Christian Wood #35 of the Detroit Pistons runs to the court before the game against the Indiana Pacers on December 6, 2019 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - DECEMBER 6: Christian Wood #35 of the Detroit Pistons runs to the court before the game against the Indiana Pacers on December 6, 2019 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Detroit Pistons announced Friday that breakout center Christian Wood will be sidelined for at least one week with a knee injury. What does this mean for the Pistons?

As if the season wasn’t hitting enough bumps in the road for the Detroit Pistons, here comes some more bad news. Christian Wood will miss one week a the very least with a left knee bone bruise.

Admittedly, this news is slightly relieving as during the Pistons last match up against the Toronto Raptors when Wood initially suffered the injury fans assumed the worst. It was a non-contact injury, and when it comes to the health of athletes knees that’s seldom a good sign. He will be re-evaluated in one week.

This season Wood is averaging 9.1 points per game to go along with 4.9 rebounds on 61.7 percent shooting including 42.9 percent from three-point range. Though those are quality numbers for a backup center, they’re slightly skewed due to the inconsistent minutes he received at the beginning of the season.

Wood has quickly emerged as a fan favorite in Detroit, and often leaves people wondering how in the world so many organizations have passed on him.

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In his absence, the Pistons will likely resort to two options at the backup center position. The first is Thon Maker, who opened the season seeing consistent minutes off of the bench, but has recently been more or less phased out of the rotation due to his inconsistency as well as Wood’s play as of late.

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Maker has been labeled as a big man who can stretch the floor and protect the rim on defense. He’s shooting 50 percent from three-point range this season (just 14 attempts) but has trouble handling the ball when it’s given to him in the post. It regularly results in turnovers or bad looks at the basket.

He’s more than capable of filling the role though. Although he hasn’t gained the affection of the fans the way that Wood has, one thing cannot be disputed: Maker really tries when he’s on the court. He’s always hustling on both ends of the floor and that’s in all likelihood why Dwane Casey used to defer to him so much. Casey rewards effort.

The second option would be Markieff Morris. Now obviously this would mean that Detroit is opting to run a small ball lineup which has seldom been the plan of attack this season. However, with a new wrinkle in the fold it may be something that Casey considers.

Morris has quietly been one of the more efficient members on the team this season. He’s currently averaging 10.7 points per game along with 4.0 rebounds on 47.6 percent shooting from the field including 40.0 percent from three-point range.

He’s a center option that may wind up acting as a fail safe.

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Without Wood, the Pistons will lose an aggressive force at the rim on both ends of the floor. They haven’t been a healthy team all season, and with one of their key role players going down, they’ll likely be on damage control for a few weeks now.

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