The Detroit Pistons hit the road tonight for the first of two games against the Chicago Bulls.
The back-to-back games will take us to the All-Star break and the Pistons will have nine days off before their next game, so there is no reason not to leave it all on the court for these two in Chicago.
The break couldn’t come at a better time for the Pistons, as they are trying to incorporate Dennis Schroder into the rotation and could use the extra practice time to get him assimilated before the final push to the playoffs.
The Pistons woke up alone in the 6th seed with a full game between them and Miami after the Heat lost last night. The Pistons are just a game and a half behind the Bucks for the 5th seed after Milwaukee has lost seven of their last 10 games.
It’s way too early to be scoreboard watching, but keep in mind that the Pistons finish their season with two games against the Bucks, which could be unreal if they are within striking distance at that time.
Like I said, too early, but something to think about. We wanted the Pistons to play meaningful basketball this season and they are setting themselves up for just that.
Pistons injuries vs. Bulls
The Pistons will still be missing Jaden Ivey but other than that, their injury report is clean. Shoutout to Trajan Langdon, who went out and got players who have long records of staying healthy.
Detroit was decimated by injuries in each of the previous five seasons, so he made availability a priority and so far, it has paid off. This is something to consider moving forward, as having your entire roster this late in the season is an advantage.
The Bulls will be missing Adama Sanogo and Lonzo Ball and have Ayo Dosunmu listed as probable.
Given that Chicago just traded away their best player (for peanuts, well done again, Bulls!), these are games the Pistons need to win. Hopefully they learned their lesson from their near-catastrophe against the Hornets when they tried to go into cruise control and nearly lost their lead.
Take the Bulls seriously, come out with big energy, get these two and head into All-Star break.
How to watch Pistons vs. Bulls
The game has an 8:00 PM ET tip-off since it’s in the central time zone and you can watch on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit or listen on 97.1 FM The Ticket.
Streaming options can be found here.