By the end of tonight, the Detroit Pistons will know if their tanking season paid off.
A loss, and they are guaranteed the second-worst record in the NBA, while a win opens up a potential can of worms that none of us want to see.
The Pistons will be shorthanded once again, with most of their veterans sitting out with “injuries” and Isaiah Stewart likely to miss his second game in a row due to personal reasons.
Sekou Doumbouya is also out for personal reasons, which is too bad, as it would have been nice to see him get one more game this season.
The Pistons will be rolling with a young team and not actually trying to win, but there are still some things to watch for when they take on the Miami Heat.
Detroit Pistons: Finish strong, but not too strong
It would be nice to see Killian Hayes, Saddiq Bey, Hamidou Diallo and the rest of the Pistons’ young players have strong games to finish the season and carry some positive momentum into the offseason.
Bey is not going to break the rookie record for made 3-point shots but he can still move up the list, Hayes has had 12 games in a row with 5+ assists, and Diallo just wants to finish the season healthy, though another 35 point outburst would be welcome.
The main thing is to finish on a competitive note, but let’s not get crazy, as the Detroit Pistons really do not need or want to actually win this game.
They might be playing with a seven-man rotation, so we shouldn’t have to worry too much, but the Pistons have played a couple of sloppy, ugly offensive games in a row, so let’s hope for a semi-competitive game with some better offense that ends in a loss.