Pistons vs. Suns Preview: Detroit looks to finish November strong against struggling Suns

With the Pistons (9-7) nabbing one win in the home and home series against the Houston Rockets, they’ll now look to take advantage of a favorable home schedule for the rest of November. Detroit wraps this month up against the Suns, Knicks and Bulls — all at home, with all of these teams currently under .500 by a wide margin — their combined record is just 15-43.

First up, the Phoenix Suns, who are coming off their most impressive win of the season, having beat the Milwaukee Bucks (13-5) this past Friday. The young Suns were able to beat Milwaukee thanks to a solid performance by Devin Booker, who delivered 29 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.

Detroit can ill afford a let down against the struggling Suns, with their upcoming December schedule ahead. Just take a look for yourselves.

Three wins in hand against the bottom-tier teams in the Association would be extremely valuable, knowing you have the Warriors, Sixers, Bucks and Thunder coming up.

Game Vitals

When: 4:00 p.m. EST
Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI
Watch: Fox Sports Detroit, NBA League Pass

Analysis

The Phoenix Suns boast the league’s 28th ranked offense, scoring just 102.8 points per 100 possessions. They also own the 28th ranked defense, allowing 112.2 points per. This equals the 28th ranked net rating of -9.4. On a night to night basis, they’re usually losing by a comfortable margin, if not being blown out entirely, but they’ve still found a way to eek out some impressive wins in each of their four Ws this season.

They started the season by beating the (now 9-9) Dallas Mavericks by 21 points, they’ve also knocked off the Western Conference’s second-place Memphis Grizzlies, and have beaten the Spurs and (as mentioned) Bucks. While there may not be much parity in the league come June — any team can beat any team during the regular season.

Coach Dwane Casey was effusive about how focused Andre Drummond was in their win against the Rockets, and he’ll need to remain focused as he matches up against the 2018 No. 1 overall pick, DeAndre Ayton. Ayton is putting up mini-Dre numbers this season, averaging 16.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists. An impressive stat-line in Ayton’s own right, that sheds light on just now impressive Detroit’s Drummond has been this season - 19.5 points, 16.1 rebounds, 1.1 steals AND 1.8 blocks per game.

And if Drummond is able to continue to play his game, and not worry about his game vs. Ayton’s game - that should bode well for Detroit as they look to return to three games over .500 for the first time since the beginning of the season.

Lineups

Detroit
Reggie Jackson, Reggie Bullock, Glenn Robinson III, Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond

Phoenix
Devin Booker, TJ Warren, Trevor Ariza, Mikal Bridges, Deandre Ayton

Community Question

What ‘game within the game’ will you be watching today? Ayton vs. Drummond? Blake Griffin vs. Josh Jackson? Booker vs. whoever happens to be matched up on Booker- (hoping it’s not Reggie Jackson)?