The Detroit Pistons will emerge from the All-Star break tonight with a trip to Texas to take on the San Antonio Spurs.
The Spurs got the devastating news yesterday that phenom Victor Wembanyama will miss the rest of the season with deep vein thrombosis (blood clot) in his right shoulder.
First off, this sucks. I hate seeing this type of stuff happen to any young person, so hopefully Wemby will make a full recovery as Ausar Thompson has.
Secondly, as a basketball fan, I was really looking forward to seeing Jalen Duren try to match up with Wembanyama, as the Pistons play them tonight and have one more matchup against the Spurs at Little Caesar’s Arena, so we are being robbed of some great hoops.
So, speedy recovery to Wemby and I hope he’s back on the court soon.
Speaking of Ausar Thompson, he’s now in the spotlight again as Spurs fans try to grasp what is going on and what it means for Wembanyama’s future.
Aside from overcoming blood clots himself, Thompson was on a roll heading into the break, one that I expect to continue as he gets to 100 percent. The Pistons have a top-5 defense since Thompson joined the starting lineup, which is no coincidence.
Thompson recently said he was the “best perimeter defender in the NBA,” and he might be right, but he’ll have to wait until next season to get any postseason awards for it, as he won’t play enough games in this one to be eligible.
The Pistons need a win to keep pace tonight, as both the Bucks (who recently lost Bobby Portis to a suspension) and the Magic both won. That puts Milwaukee a game and a half ahead of the Pistons and Orlando two games behind.
Given the Spurs injury status and the fact that this will be the second game of a back-to-back, this is one the Pistons can’t afford to lose. The Spurs beat the freefalling Suns last night, so the Pistons can’t take them lightly even without Wembanyama.
Pistons injuries vs. Spurs
The Pistons are missing Jaden Ivey, who was spotted without his walking boot by the sleuths on Reddit, a good sign that his recovery is going as planned.
In addition to Wembanyama, the Spurs will be missing Charles Bassey and Riley Minix.
How to watch Pistons vs. Spurs
This one has a late 8:30 AM ET tip-off (argh) and you can watch on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit or listen on 97.1 FM The Ticket.
You can now stream Pistons’ games on Amazon Prime for an extra $20 bucks a month or you can find other streaming options here.