Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons celebrated his first All-Star selection by soundly beating the Dallas Mavericks behind 40 points from Cade.
Cunningham showed all of the reasons he’s an All-Star, efficiently eviscerating Dallas with buckets from all three levels.
Next up is division rival Chicago Bulls, who are stuck in their normal position between trying to compete for something and tanking, clinging to the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference by a game.
Detroit has a chance to put another game between themselves and Chicago, which would put them 4.5 up on the Bulls in the standings. With a game against the Hawks waiting, the Pistons have a chance to separate themselves from the teams chasing them.
Tonight’s game will also feature two of the hottest names at the trade deadline, Detroit because of their cap space and willingness to use it to facilitate trades (for a price) and Chicago because they have Zach LaVine, a guy who hasn’t left the rumor mill in years.
LaVine sat out the last game for “personal” reasons, and we will have to wait for gametime to see if he’ll be appearing in the Motor City. I’m sure this has nothing to do with the Bulls’ desire to trade him, nor their hope of keeping their top-10 protected draft pick in 2025.
Pistons injuries vs. Bulls: Is Zach LaVine going to play tonight?
We’ll have to wait and see if the personal reasons that coincidentally kept LaVine out just before the trade deadline will affect him again tonight in Detroit.
The Bulls will also be missing veteran Torrey Craig, another player who could be moved at the deadline.
The Pistons will still be missing Jaden Ivey, who hasn’t been re-evaluated since his injury, but there are no new names on the injury report other than him.
The Bulls are fresh off a win over the Raptors without LaVine, so the Pistons can’t take Chicago lightly even if they are without their best scorer.
Detroit has had a bad habit of getting down in the 1st quarter, which has pretty much been all or nothing for them, as they have an even net rating overall in that frame overall.
It would be nice to see Detroit come out focused and put and end-to-end beatdown on Chicago, who have only won three of their last 10 games overall.
How to watch Pistons vs. Bulls
The game in Little Caesar’s Arena has an early 3:00 PM ET tip-off, a time slot that usually leads to sloppy games for whatever reason.
You can watch it on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit or listen on 97.1 FM The Ticket, or take advantage of one of the many streaming options available.