clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

NBA Tank Watch: Trouble brewing for Cavs and therefore the Pistons

Kyrie Irving injured in loss to the Clippers.

Christian Petersen

Sunday

That was by far the biggest development among the Tank Watch faithful Sunday, as the Cleveland Cavaliers' best player might be down for the year. Unfortunate to say the least. I wonder if the Pistons having Andre Drummond go down would have the same effect or actually be minimized due to preventing Josh Smith from playing small forward.

In Irving's absence, the Cavs will go with Jarrett Jack and maybe Dion Waiters at point guard if CJ Miles can get healthy and man the shooting guard position going forward. Still, a big blow to any Pistons fan with tanking dreams.

Other developments from Sunday include the Boston Celtics and the Sacramento Kings (the two teams Detroit fans should be rooting for most if they want the Pistons to fall even further in the standings) lost by a combined three points to the New Orleans Hornets and Minnesota Timberwolves, respectively. To make matters worse, DeMarcus Cousins was a healthy scratch against the Timberwolves and the Kings lost by two points.  Utah, as assumed, got spanked by the San Antonio Spurs.

On to today's games.

Monday

Atlanta at Charlotte

Charlotte is playing extremely well lately and at this point it is probably best for all concerned for the Hawks to keep sinking like a stone so that the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers maintain every reason to keep on winning and keeping their playoff hopes alive.

Root for: Charlotte

Utah at Houston

Goooooo Jazz! Utah is 3.5 games behind the Pistons, which probably means they are out of reach. Still, worth rooting for someone as Boston and Sacramento keep on disappointing.

Boston at Dallas

Boston is playing on the second night of a back-to-back after playing a hard-fought overtime game against the Pelicans and losing. Needless to say, there energy might not be at the level needed to compete with a very good Dallas team.

Root for: Boston