New Pistons injuries will lead to wonky starting lineup vs. Celtics

Before the season started, Troy Weaver stated that his goal for the Detroit Pistons was to be competitive in all 82 games. Here's the full quote if you want to refresh your memory:

"Realistic goal for our team? Is to play 82 meaningful games…We want to go down to the wire every game with us playing for something. We don’t want to just look at the last 25 games and not be in contention. We want to be in contention for 82 games, the entire season."

So much for that. The Pistons were barely competitive for a week before things went south and will once again limp into the final games with a rotation featuring G-League players and recent signings.

This has been an annual tradition for the Pistons for some time now, as they were technically eliminated from the playoffs weeks ago and for practical purposes, long before that.

So once again, the starting five the Pistons began the season with will bear little resemblance to the one they finish it with.

If you need reasons to watch the rest of this trainwreck of a season, morbid curiosity about who will play has to be atop the list.

Detroit Pistons vs. Boston Celtics: Injury update

The Pistons are already missing Isaiah Stewart and Ausar Thompson, who have been officially ruled out for the season. Quentin Grimes may as well be, as he has barely played and there is no indication that he will before the season is over.

Simone Fontecchio has been ruled out with a toe injury and Taj Gibson just because he's old.

But there is a newcomer to the injury report, as Stanley Umude, who got an emergency start in the last game, is out after fracturing his ankle.

The Celtics have half of their team listed as questionable, probably wondering if they actually have to show up for this one or if they can put Boston jerseys on a bunch of random fans and still get a win.

Pistons starting lineup vs. Celtics

So who exactly is going to play in this one? Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren are miraculously healthy, so they will make up 3/5s of the starting five.

We could see Tosan Evbuomwan again along with Evan Fournier (puke) or Troy Brown Jr. at the forward spots. How about a cameo from Buddy Boeheim? He has been red hot in the G-League, so what could it hurt?

Will Monty Williams lean on his two bigs and start James Wiseman? It's going to be a wonky one regardless of who he chooses.

It's wild how each of the last four seasons has ended with a starting lineup full of guys who weren't even on the team at the beginning of it. Some of this is tanking, some constant roster turnover and some is just that the Pistons can't stay healthy.