The Detroit Pistons will head west to face the Phoenix Suns in the second of two preseason matchups between the two teams.
The Suns won the first one behind hot shooting from Kevin Durant, but the Pistons hung with them for most of the game, an encouraging sign for the defense, as the Pistons had a poor night shooting.
As per their usual, the Pistons have not been a full strength (have they ever been?) which has put a damper on an otherwise hopeful offseason.
Detroit will still be missing players tonight and we have to start to wonder if this is going to be a problem again this season.
Detroit Pistons injuries vs. Suns
All three of the players who were out in the first two games are still listed as day-to-day and unlikely to play tonight against the Suns.
Rookie Bobi Klintman is still nursing a calf contusion, Tobias Harris has an illness and Ausar Thompson is still in the nether zone waiting to be cleared by the league, a ruling for which there is no timeline.
The good news is that Harris was back at practice yesterday, so of the three, he is the most likely to play tonight, which would be great, as he and the young players really need to start building chemistry.
The worrying part is Ausar Thompson, as there is still no idea when he’ll be back and he is dealing with what could be a very serious issue. Considering the Pistons have been missing a key player to injury in each of the last few seasons, this has to be a concern.
How to watch Pistons vs. Suns
There isn’t a television broadcast for Pistons vs. Suns, which will tip off at 10:00 PM ET. You can listen on 97.1 FM if you want to pretend it's 1970 again.
The good news is that most of you reading this don’t have cable anyway, so probably weren’t relying on the awful Bally Sports.
You can stream the game on NBA League Pass if you are out of market or try a free trial at FUBOtv.
There are also options on YouTube, Hulu and many regular season games will be on Amazon. The fractured streaming market continues to be an issue for the NBA, as local fans are blacked out and many don’t want to buy subscriptions to multiple streaming platforms just to watch local games.
The NBA continues to ignore the problem while rolling around in their fresh TV money, but that’s not going to be there forever, so they need to figure this streaming thing out.