The Detroit Pistons flip-flopped one season trend in their last loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, as the bench was fantastic and it was mostly the starters that let them down.
The Pistons still lost the game, but there were some reasons to be optimistic, at least about the offense. The defense was a completely different story, as they allowed 141 points to the Bucks who shot 49 free throws as a team, 22 of them by Giannis after the Pistons were able to slow him down early.
That's been the story all season for the Pistons, who are 28th in the NBA in opponent's points allowed per game, and get 10 points worse when Isaiah Stewart isn't in there.
He could be back tonight, and there is an outside chance we'll get to see a player fans have been waiting for all season.
Detroit Pistons' injuries: Is Monte Morris playing tonight vs. Bucks?
The short answer to that is, "probably not." Morris promised to be back before the end of January and has been upgraded to "doubtful" on the official injury report, so there is a slight chance he will make his debut tonight.
Even if he doesn't, that day is coming soon and we may get our first glimpse of Morris on this home stand.
Isaiah Stewart has been upgraded to questionable with an ankle injury and Cade Cunningham has also been upgraded to doubtful. We probably won't see any of these players tonight, but it's promising that they are getting close.
The Pistons have yet to play with their full roster this season and though we've all made a "We can't evaluate this team without Monte Morris!" joke, there is some truth to it, as Morris can replace Killian Hayes, provide some kind of scoring threat off the bench and take care of the ball.
The bench has been much better since the ousting of Isaiah Livers and Marvin Bagley III, as both Mike Muscala and Danilo Gallinari have at least provided veteran competence for the second unit and allowed the Pistons to have a better mixture of experience and youth on the floor at all times.
With upcoming home games against the Hornets and Wizards, it would be nice to steal one against the Bucks and try to build a tiny bit of momentum just as the roster returns to full strength.