It may be silly to talk about “must-win” games in November, but tonight’s matchup against the Toronto Raptors is pretty close to it for the Detroit Pistons.
The Pistons have lost three straight and have a home game against a bad team that is also beat up and will be playing the second game of a road back-to-back. If the Pistons want to be taken seriously at all, this is a game they have to win, regardless of who is playing.
The Pistons are entering another tough part of their schedule which will see them play the Grizzlies, Pacers, 76ers, Bucks, Celtics and Knicks, so dropping one to the 4-13 Raptors would be devastating to their chances of staying in the mix for the play-in.
This is a crucial and vulnerable part of the season for Detroit, as they have already lost three in a row and losing tonight could set them up for another lengthy losing streak that would put a damper on whatever optimism there has been about their mediocre start.
No messing around. They have to win this one or we could look back and see this as a turning point in the season, and not in a good way.
Pistons injuries vs. Raptors: Cade Cunningham and Ausar Thompson
Cade Cunningham is listed as doubtful for tonight’s game against the Raptors and I’d be surprised to see him play with such a tough stretch coming up.
The good news is that Ausar Thompson is no longer on the injured list at all and should make his debut tonight in front of the home crowd.
He’ll be a welcome addition, as the Pistons not only need his secondary playmaking but desperately need his defense on the perimeter, where they have been getting torched by the 3-ball of late.
Bobi Klintman will also be out for the Pistons, and there is still no timetable for his return.
The Raptors have Scottie Barnes back, but will still be missing Bruce Brown, Immanuel Quickley, Kelly Olynyk and DJ Carton. Gradey Dick is listed as day-to-day after leaving last night’s game with a calf injury.
How to watch Pistons vs. Raptors
Tonight’s game will tip off at 7:00 PM ET in Little Caesar’s Arena and you can watch on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit Extra or listen on ALT 98.7.
For those without cable, you can find all of your streaming options here.
Pistons starting lineup with Ausar Thompson back
The Pistons will have plenty of lineup options with Thompson back, but it’s highly doubtful will see him in the starting five as he is still working into game shape.
Coach Bickerstaff will likely stick with the same starting unit we saw in the last game with Cade Cunningham out, which was just to stick Beasley in his place.
It will be interesting to see whose minutes Thompson eats into, as both Simone Fontecchio and Ron Holland II have been lackluster of late. It won’t be easy to have Holland and Thompson on the floor at the same time, so we may eventually see the rookie out of the rotation.