Will tonight be the night the Pistons surpass last year’s win total?
After a four-game West Coast road trip that saw the Detroit Pistons go 3-1, they return to Detroit for another four-game trip, but this time they’ll all take place at Little Caesars Arena. Detroit is 5-3 in their last eight games and looks to take advantage of a depleted Orlando Magic team that’s trying to hold on to a top-4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Game Vitals
When: 7:00 pm ET
Where: Little Caesars Arena – Detroit, MI
Watch: FanDuel Sports Network Detroit
Odds: Pistons -1.5
Analysis
Detroit currently sits at 14-18 and is one win away from (already) passing last year’s win total. As the 10th-seed in the Eastern Conference, they’re a half game behind the 15-18 Chicago Bulls and one seed ahead of the 13-17 Philadelphia 76ers . With no one on tonight’s injury report, the Pistons have an important chance at winning against a top Eastern Conference foe to keep their play-in hopes alive.
Orlando is struggling recently – they’re 3-5 in their last eight games and currently have five injuries to rotation players:
- Paolo Banchero – out (oblique)
- Franz Wagner – out (oblique)
- Mo Wagner – out (knee)
- Anthony Black – day-to-day (back)
- Jalen Suggs – day-to-day (wrist)
In their four most recent losses, the Magic didn’t score over 100 points so it’s clear they’re missing the offensive punch from Paolo and Franz. Jalen Suggs has had to carry the load so they’re hopeful he’ll play tonight, but rookie Tristan Da Silva and big man Goga Bitadze have played well, too.
The total for this game is 213 points, so Vegas thinks it’ll be a defensive battle tonight. Orlando is known for being a lengthy defensive team, but they struggle to shoot the long ball. The Magic are dead last this season in 3P% at 30.8%. However, the Pistons are dead last this season in opponent 3P% at 38.4%, so something’s going to have to give tonight. Hopefully it’s Detroit that can overcome and provide some much-needed defense that this team has been lacking recently. As good as Orlando is defensively (3rd in DRTG), they’re terrible offensively (26th in ORTG).
Detroit will be led by their All-Star point guard Cade Cunningham, who just averaged 25 points, six rebounds, and 11 assists in the month of December. This team certainly missed Jaden Ivey’s scoring punch while he was out. After returning from injury, he has averaged 19 points, five rebounds, and three assists over the last four games while shooting a blazing-hot 55% from deep.
I’m interested to see how Jalen Duren does tonight. Orlando is ranked 1st in allowing offensive rebounds with only 8.4 per game, so I’m intrigued by what kind of impact he’ll have. He’ll also be guarded by quality defenders in Goga Bitadze, Wendell Carter Jr, and Jonathan Isaac. I’ve continued to be critical of him due to his limited game and inability to shoot, but tonight is an opportunity to play above the level of competition against a team that can limit what he does well. Let’s hope it’s not another game where he’s outperformed by his backups.
This is going to be a slow, defensive game tonight, and Detroit needs to keep its turnovers low. We may need one of those Malik Beasley games where he’s a flamethrower from deep, but as long as Detroit can force the Magic to continue struggling offensively, I think the Pistons can pull this one out.
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Projected Lineups
Detroit Pistons
(14-18)
Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Tim Hardaway Jr, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren
Orlando Magic (20-14)
Jalen Suggs, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Tristan Da Silva, Wendell Carter Jr, Goga Bitadze
Question of the Day:
What New Year’s resolution does this roster need to make?