The Detroit Pistons circled the Indiana Pacers on the calendar after the teams played three contentious games this season, but came out flat and essentially lost the final matchup of the series in the first eight minutes.
They also lost Isaiah Stewart in the first eight minutes after he was ejected for shoving Thomas Bryant. The game was chippy all night with no shortage of trash talking and emotion.
But the Pistons need to forget about that.
After their toughest road trip of the season so far, the Pistons are home for six games, four of which are against conference foes.
They can’t let the last loss linger or let it affect them tonight, as they need to stack some wins at home if they want to continue their unexpected quest for the playoffs.
This includes Isaiah Stewart, who admitted he got “played” by Indiana and lost his composure, letting his teammates down in the process.
Stewart already had a reputation as a hothead and he’s going to have a big bullseye on his back for both Dallas and the referees. He needs to just play hard and cut out all the extracurricular crap, as it is costing the Pistons points and games.
With Dallas shorthanded in the frontcourt, this is a game that Stewart can have a big impact, but he needs to do it with basketball plays, not this tough-guy nonsense. He let his team down and needs to win them back.
Thankfully, the Pistons have shown resilience all season, and they have Beef Stew’s back, as do the fans, so I am sure he’ll get a warm welcome at home, but needs to redeem himself and I think he will.
Pistons injuries vs. Mavericks: A big night for the Pistons centers?
The Pistons are still missing Jaden Ivey, but we should be getting an update soon, as he has reached the four-week mark which was when he was meant to be re-evaluated.
In typical Pistons’ fashion, they set the timeline for an injury update and then didn’t meet it.
The Mavs will be missing Luka Doncic, Dereck Lively, Dwight Powell, Maxi Kleber and Dante Exum is listed as questionable.
You’d like to think that Jalen Duren and Stewart would have big games with all of these frontcourt players out for Dallas, but they still have Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington, two guys who have torched the Pistons in the past.
How to watch Pistons vs. Mavericks
If you have cable TV, you can watch the game on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit, listen to it on 97.1 FM The Ticket or ask Adam Silver why you can’t stream your local team on League Pass.
There are streaming options here for the Pistons.