The Pistons' defining test will have to wait

Tonight’s Detroit Pistons game against the OKC Thunder is one fans have looked forward to as a battle between the teams leading their respective conferences, but with OKC missing key players, the real test will have to wait. 

The Pistons already got a taste of the Western Conference in their loss to San Antonio, which may be a battle we see in an NBA Finals someday, as both teams are young and very good ahead of schedule. 

But the Thunder are the defending NBA champs and currently lead the West, so they are the team everyone will measure themselves against until further notice. 

The Pistons would love to get back on track tonight against OKC, but even if they win, we still won’t have a true measure of where they stand. 

Detroit Pistons vs. OKC Thunder: Injuries put an asterisk next to this one 

It may seem odd to say this in February, but if the Pistons want to be taken seriously as title contenders, then they have to win this game tonight against OKC. 

Detroit will be at full strength, with no players on the injury report, though they will still be missing Isaiah Stewart to suspension, a loss that showed up big time in the game against San Antonio, where the Pistons could have used Beef Stew’s size and even his outside shooting to try and draw Wembanyama out of the lane. 

OKC runs with two bigs, so Stewart being out tonight is another big blow, one he should remember the next time he has the idea to leave the bench. No offense to Stew, who I love, and whose loyalty to his teammates is impressive, but this was the worst possible time of the year for him to be missing games for fighting. 

However, the Thunder will be missing key players tonight, including reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and All-NBA forward Jalen Williams. Just to note, if SGA is out tonight, he'll have just four more games of wiggle room until he is ineligible for the MVP award.

The Thunder also played last night, so this will be the second game of a back-to-back with travel, so Detroit should have an advantage. 

But don’t get it twisted, this Thunder team is deep and can still win this game without their two stars, just ask the Toronto Raptors, who lost to OKC last night. The Thunder’s depth is impressive, as guard Cason Wallace stepped in and dropped 27 points, and Isaiah Joe added 22. 

The Pistons cannot take this game lightly just because OKC has some injuries and played last night, or they will definitely get beaten. Luckily, the Pistons have responded after nearly every big loss this season, so I expect them to have a focused effort tonight and to clean up some of the mistakes from the Spurs loss.