It hasn’t been conventional, and has nearly given me a heart attack a few times, but the Detroit Pistons have won six games after 14 played, a vast improvement from last season when they didn’t win their sixth game until January 28th.
It hasn’t always been pretty, in fact, it’s been downright ugly at times, especially on the offensive side of the ball, where the Pistons have the exact same offensive rating they had last season when they finished near the bottom of the league.
But the Pistons are greatly improved on defense. They have jumped into the top 10 in defensive rating, improving from over 118 last season to 111 in this one. It’s helped them to 7th place in the Eastern Conference even though they have a negative net rating.
We saw it against the shorthanded Toronto Raptors, as the Pistons held them to just 17 points in the 4th quarter, clamping down and winning the game even though they shot the ball poorly and failed to score 100 points.
They’ll be looking to do the same tonight against the Washington Wizards, who have started just 2-9 in the early season.
Pistons vs. Wizards: Injury report
Ausar Thompson is inching towards a return and the Pistons could use him, as they had to dip into their deep bench against Toronto, though Marcus Sasser and Wendell Moore Jr. did step up when called upon.
Thompson will still be out tonight along with rookie Bobi Klintman. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Simone Fontecchio are both listed as questionable, so it’s likely the Pistons will need some bench guys to step up.
The Washington Wizards will be missing our old friend Saddiq Bey, so we don't have to worry about a Bey revenge game at least.
Key matchups in Pistons vs. Wizards: Cade Cunningham has to dominate, Jalen Duren can't be dominated
Even though he’s clearly been bothered with back spasms of late, this is a game that Cade Cunningham should dominate, as the Wizards only have one player, Bilal Coulibaly, who can match his size.
The Pistons need to find ways to get Cade matched up against the other guards, as he can dominate Jordan Poole and Carlton Carrington in the paint. I’d expect the Pistons to get Cade moving off the ball to try and get him some favorable matchups.
Cunningham scored 33 points in the last meeting between these two teams, but needed 33 shots to get them, so he will need to be more efficient and get his teammates involved when the double teams come.
This is a big game for Jalen Duren, who has been all over the place this season. His defense is still suspect and he’s been turning the ball over at an astronomical rate. The Wizards’ bigs present tough matchups for him, as Alexander Sarr can move around the perimeter (Duren should back off and let him shoot if he wants) and Jonas Valanciunas is a professional center who is a beast around the rim.
If Duren gets dominated by rookie Alex Sarr, we will have to start the conversation of whether he is a starting-caliber center in this league or not. Duren has the size, so he needs to dominate the boards, take care of the ball and keep both Sarr and Valanciunas off the offensive glass.
How to watch Pistons vs. Wizards
Tonight has a weird tip-off of 6:00 PM ET and you can watch on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit or listen on 950 AM.
There are also plenty of ways to watch the game without cable. Here are all of your streaming options.