Anthony Davis was listed as questionable for Monday’s game against the Detroit Pistons but came out and put up 44 points in the loss anyway.
Detroit will take on Washington again tonight, and though Davis is not listed on the injury report, it’s possible he’ll sit, as it’s the second game of a back-to-back, and he has been nursing a sore ankle.
Of course, given some of the monster games Davis has had against the Pistons, I’m sure he’ll want to be in there, but regardless of whether he plays, JB Bickerstaff should stick to the small-ball lineup he used in the first meeting.
The Pistons went small, which had more pros than cons
Coach Bickerstaff started John Collins at center on Monday, and Collins responded with his best game of the season, scoring 24 points and adding 10 rebounds.
It also allowed the Pistons to play faster and keep more ball handling and passing on the floor, as Detroit racked up 31 assists to just 10 turnovers and just about everyone got involved in the action.
The move pushed Paul Reed to the bench, where he is better suited as an energy guy who comes in and changes the game, and put Daniss Jenkins in the starting five, where he has been great in his career with Detroit.
The Pistons may as well ride the hot hand tonight, so we’ll likely see Jenkins in the starting five again and a heavy dose of Kevin Huerter, who played well in the win on Monday.
The flip side to this is that the Pistons were out-rebounded by the Wizards and had no answer for Anthony Davis, who had 30 points in the first half and looked ready to shatter another scoring record in Detroit.
If Davis does play tonight, they’ll have to find ways to slow him down, and the best way to do so is to speed things up.
The Pistons play better when they are getting out in transition, which they should be doing tonight, as the Wizards are on their third game in four days and should have heavy legs. Look for Detroit to push the pace early and try to run the Wizards off the floor.
This includes in the half court, where the Pistons have been improved this season, especially lately, mostly because of the off-ball movement of Duncan Robinson and Kevin Huerter to go along with increased playmaking from Ausar Thompson and Daniss Jenkins.
The Pistons have gone small more often of late, and it has paid off, as they are turning the ball over less, even if they are giving up some of their rebounding edge.
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