Is Luka Doncic playing tonight? Pistons vs. Mavericks injury update

Dallas Mavericks v Detroit Pistons
Dallas Mavericks v Detroit Pistons / Nic Antaya/GettyImages
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The Detroit Pistons got monster games from Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey to beat the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, their first win at home since January.

Jaden Ivey busted out of his slump and the Pistons were able to overcome their copious turnovers with a big edge in rebounds and accurate shooting from long range.

Cade Cunningham made history on the night, becoming the 6th-fastest player to top 2,500 points and 800 assists, joining an elite group that includes tonight's opponent Luka Doncic, the player Cunningham has been compared to in the past.

The two haven't seen much of each other, as Cunningham was absent from both games against Dallas last season, but the Pistons were able to get a win over the Mavericks to split the series.

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Cunningham will be in the lineup tonight, but Dallas may be missing their star, which will give the Pistons a chance to win two in a row at home, a rare treat for the Detroit faithful.

Detroit Pistons vs. Dallas Mavericks injury update

The Detroit Pistons still just have one player on the official injury list, Quentin Grimes who has been upgraded to doubtful.

The Grimes' situation has to be concerning for the Pistons, as he's played just four games since the trade that brought him to Detroit and does have a history of knee troubles.

Dereck Lively II has been ruled out for tonight's game for personal reasons and superstar Luka Doncic is listed as questionable with ongoing ankle and elbow issues.

With Lively II out, you'd think Jalen Duren might have a big game, but Dallas still has a trio of bigs to fall back on in Daniel Gafford, Maxi Kleber and PJ Washington after making some trade deadline additions of their own.

Whether Doncic plays or not, it will be interesting to see how the Pistons match up with the Mavericks' backcourt. If Doncic does play, I expect he'll be defended by Ausar Thompson for much of the night, but if he doesn't, would coach Monty Williams slide Ausar over to the smaller Kyrie Irving to try and bother him with size?

We could see Cade Cunningham defending the small forward position to allow Thompson to take on the tougher assignment.

The Washington Wizards broke their losing streak last night to even up with the Pistons in the win column, so a Detroit loss tonight would put them back into a tie for the worst record in the league.

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