The Pistons' challenging upcoming game against the Lakers just got a little easier, after Luka Doncic picked up his 16th technical foul of the season Saturday night. That tech puts Luka over the league's suspension limit, so he will be forced to miss Monday's matchup in Detroit. The Pistons have been doing their best to hang on without superstar Cade Cunningham, and this stroke of good fortune will only help.
Luka and the Lakers have been on fire
The Lakers will come into Little Ceasars' Arena on a 9-game win streak after a game-winner on Saturday night. This hot stretch has been powered by Doncic's incredible production: he is averaging 40 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists per game during the streak. Countering his dominance would be especially difficult for the Pistons now considering their lack of perimeter creation, especially with Cade sidelined.
Last time the Pistons faced the Lakers, they effectively shut down Luka and had some standout defensive performances. Although he did have 30 points and 11 assists on December 30th, The Don also had 8 turnovers and shot very poorly - just 9-of-22 from the field and 3-of-11 from three. Detroit dominated with their defense and cruised to a 22 point win that day.
The Pistons even won the three-point shooting battle in their last matchup. They took advantage of a weak Lakers defense to bury 11-of-24 attempts from distance, led by Marcus Sasser shooting 4-of-6. But both teams have looked pretty different in recent weeks, and Sasser himself has been dealing with injury struggles.
But of course the biggest differences are Cade Cunningham's injury and a revival of the Lakers defense. Without Cade, the Pistons offense has lost its cornerstone and best option to either score the ball directly or create for teammates. Detroit doesn't have any creators near the same level with him out, but they're making do with options like Daniss Jenkins running the point.
At the same time, the Lakers have turned their season around by showing more defensive effort. Much of this change has been led by Luka himself, who has looked reinvigorated lately. When even he gives consistent defensive effort, the Lakers can be hard to beat.
Luka's technical could get rescinded
It's important to note that Luka's most recent tech was a strange call. He received the technical on a play where he was jawing at Magic player Goga Bitadze without actually getting into a physical altercation. It wouldn't exactly be surprising to see the league come out and rescind the foul soon.
If that decision is made, the Pistons will face a much tougher test on Monday. If anything, it might give a pumped-up Doncic to deal with.