Ausar Thompson is still listed as day-to-day on the Detroit Pistons’ injury report and fans are hoping he stays there, as the last thing we need to hear are the four dreaded words “re-evaluated in two weeks.”
Thompson will miss tonight’s game against the Nets, and the Pistons could also be down Jalen Duren and Cade Cunningham, which opens the door for someone else to step up in their absence.
The good news is that Ron Holland II seems to be ok, as he is not on the injury report at all, so the Pistons should have their entire bench for the first game of a back-to-back tonight.
But the real worry is Ausar Thompson, as the Pistons can't weather his absence for long, so fans are hoping his sprained ankle only keeps him out a few games instead of being put on some nebulous timetable.
Ausar Thompson was a one-man wrecking crew in February
The Pistons, like many NBA teams, haven’t been the most forthright about injuries over the years, and we’ve watched many players make the dreaded transition from “day-to-day" to “re-evaluated in two weeks,” many times.
If Thompson does get that status, it means the injury is more severe, and you can almost guarantee he’ll be out longer, so Pistons fans will be right to worry until the next injury update comes out.
We all know Thompson is the lynchpin of the Pistons’ defense, but after winning the Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month for January, Thompson was even better in February.
He averaged 2.3 steals and 1.1 blocks in the month of February and was pretty much singlehandedly blowing up every pick and roll attempt. Thompson makes life easier for everyone else, so his absence will be noticed on the defensive end right away.
But his deflections and steals also create easy offense for the Pistons, something they desperately need right now with just about everyone on the team in a shooting slump at the same time.
The Pistons’ schedule does lighten up over the next few weeks, but Thompson’s absence will be felt on both ends and Detroit won’t be able to tread water forever without him.
The Celtics are creeping and just got Jayson Tatum back, so the Pistons can’t afford to drop games to inferior competition.
The Pistons have the Nets for two of their next three games, and this is not the time to be playing around.
The Nets have lost 10 straight and are in full tank mode, but every NBA team is dangerous on a given night, so the Pistons have to take care of business even if they are down multiple starters.