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Detroit Pistons: Top 5 ‘Must watch’ games

By Stuart London

Detroit Pistons Derrick Rose. (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
Detroit Pistons Derrick Rose. (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Jan 5, 2020; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Detroit Pistons forward Sekou Doumbouya (45) defends Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 5, 2020; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Detroit Pistons forward Sekou Doumbouya (45) defends Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 3: Thurs., January 23 vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 7 p.m.

This will be the first time the Lakers have played in Detroit in two years. Last year’s game was wiped out by the shutdown.

Los Angeles now comes to town as the defending NBA champions.

New forward Jerami Grant is quite familiar with the Lakers. His standout play against them with the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference finals made him a valuable commodity on the free agent market. He ended up signing with Detroit for $60 million over three years.

While the Pistons did not face them last season at home, they did take on the Lakers at the Staples Center in early January. Despite playing its third game in four days, Detroit gave the Lakers all they could handle before falling, 106-99.

Related Story. When the Lakers met the Pistons it was a great game. light

Of course, this is a far different Pistons team. Only three current players (Svi Mykhailuk, Derrick Rose, Sekou Doumboya) played in that game.

Blake Griffin missed that game with an injury. He will be battling with Anthony Davis in what should be a duel between two of the best power forwards in the league.

As for LeBron James, most likely coach Dwane Casey will want Grant on him as much as possible, like the Nuggets did in the playoffs. It will be interesting to see if Casey has rookie Saddiq Bey see time guarding James.

The Lakers are one of the bigger teams in the NBA. Their overwhelming size helped them plough through all the teams in the Bubble. Of course, center-loving Detroit general manager Troy Weaver has made sure the Pistons are one of the few teams in the league who can match up size-wise with the Lakers.

This is the sort of game that would bring an electric atmosphere to what undoubtedly would be a sold-out Little Caesars Arena. Unfortunately, being played in late January, most likely few fans, if any, will be allowed to attend.

But, despite no roaring crowd supporting them, the Pistons should have no problem getting fired up for this game. Many of the younger players grew up watching LeBron, they will be excited to play him.

At that point, Detroit will have played for a little over a month. The two teams will play again in Los Angeles on February 6.

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