Ausar Thompson is listed as questionable tonight for the Detroit Pistons’ road game against the New York Knicks.
The Pistons were able to beat up on the 76ers even without Thompson in the lineup, using a combination of depth and red-hot shooting, which they will need again tonight.
The Pistons killed the Knicks three times in the regular season last year (all of them without Jalen Duren) and held them under 100 points in two of them, winning the three games by a combined 84 points.
Ausar Thompson was a big part of that, so if he can’t go tonight, the Pistons will get a glimpse of just how important he is against a team like the Knicks.
Ausar Thompson loves the challenge of the New York Knicks
Thompson’s importance to the Pistons can’t be overstated, especially against a team like the Knicks, where he’ll defend practically everyone.
Thompson has been great at slowing down Jalen Brunson, which also allows the Pistons to put a bigger defender in Cade Cunningham on either Mikal Bridges or Josh Hart.
This also allows the Pistons to hide Duncan Robinson on Josh Hart, who is less of a threat in the half court, so Thompson’s absence will have a knock-on effect on the Pistons’ defensive assignments.
It could be Daniss Jenkins chasing Brunson around, and though Jenkins is a spirited defender, he’s no Thompson, especially when it comes to the kind of size and physicality Ausar uses to bump Brunson and wear him out.
The Pistons could counter with Cunningham against Brunson, but then Jenkins is giving up size to whoever he defends, and Cade is stuck trying to mark Brunson, which is not ideal.
Not having Thompson in the lineup also makes it more difficult for the Pistons to go small, as Thompson cleans up a lot of mistakes defensively and is a good enough rebounder to offset any size disadvantage.
Thompson’s versatility is what makes the Pistons’ defense work, and certain players will be far more matchup dependent without him.
Hopefully, Ausar Thompson will play tonight, and we won’t have to worry about any of this, but if he doesn’t, his absence will be felt against a team like New York, that has a dominant offensive player and multiple talented wings.
We are only three games into the season, and the Pistons are already leaning on their depth, and will have to, as the game tonight is the first of a road/home back-to-back.
We won’t know until game time if the Pistons will unleash Thompson in New York or possibly wait for the home game against Charlotte.
Add us as a preferred source on Google