The Detroit Pistons have won four straight heading into tonight’s road matchup against Brooklyn, which will be the first game of an away/home back-to-back that includes the Nets and Warriors.
The Pistons aren’t the only ones winning, as nine out of the top 10 teams in the Eastern Conference are on some type of streak. The Cavaliers have won 10 straight, teams 2-7 all won their last game (except for the Knicks, who have lost three straight) and the Pacers, Pistons and Bulls have won three, four and two in a row, respectively.
Other than the Cavs, the Pistons are the hottest team in the East and hope to keep rolling even with Jaden Ivey out.
We wondered who would step up in Ivey’s absence to be that second scoring option and so far, it’s been a different guy every night, as we’ve seen Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. all have big games for the Pistons.
This mentality is one of the things I love about this team, as injuries completely destroyed them in the past, but now they are getting on with it and accepting the challenge.
So, who will be Ivey’s replacement tonight? My bet is on Marcus Sasser, who quietly played very well in the last game even though he didn’t score much. Could we see a team effort with 7-8 players in double digits? The Pistons don’t need it to be one guy, but they’ll need points from someone other than Cade Cunningham.
Pistons injuries vs. Nets
The Pistons will be missing Jaden Ivey for at least the next four weeks and Ausar Thompson is listed out again with an illness. Take your vitamins, folks, as that flu seems to be going around.
The Nets have it far worse as they have a whopping seven players listed as out in the early injury report. That could change before game time, but as of now, Bojan Bogdanovic, D’Angelo Russell, Cam Johnson, Maxwell Lewis, De’Anthony Melton, Cam Thomas and Trendon Watford are all listed as out with Iron Man Ben Simmons listed as questionable.
Given all of this, the Pistons have to win this one with a tough home game against Golden State lurking tomorrow, but they can’t overlook the Nets, who are still frisky with 13 wins, even though they have lost two straight and seven of their last 10 overall.
How to watch Pistons vs. Nets
The game will be shown on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit for those with cable and will also be aired on 97.1 FM The Ticket if you are trapped in your car.
You can find your streaming options here.
Can the Pistons break the .500 barrier and win their 5th straight? This does have a bit of a trap game feel to it with the Warriors waiting tomorrow, so Detroit has to show up with intensity.