Pistons vs. Hawks preview: Let threedom ring

The Detroit Pistons have little time to rest after their thrilling opening-night win against the Indiana Pacers. They play on the second night of a back-to-back on the second game of the season against the run and gun Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks, led by Trae Young, played the fastest pace in the NBA last season and were third in 3-point attempts. Expect an up-and-down night with lots of wild swings.

Game Vitals

Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit
When: 7 p.m. EST
Watch: Fox Sports Detroit

Analysis

It’s still early in the season so .... yeah, the Pacers game sure was fun! The interesting thing tonight will be if Dwane Casey changes anything up on the second end of a back-to-back considering the team is already short-handed with Blake Griffin sidelined.

Andre Drummond played 40 minutes but also turned in perhaps the best game of his life. Can he really afford to take him out? Judging by the contributions of the team’s other big men — Christian Wood, Thon Maker and Markieff Morris, the answer might be no. All three ranged from dreadful to bad. Wood played only 4 minutes before getting yanked and sent to the end of the bench. Does he get a chance to redeem himself?

Casey might also switch up the forward rotation, and he has already shown a willingness to go small. I think I saw a little Tony Snell at power forward against the pretty beefy Pacers team. Will he do that again? Is Svi Mykhailiuk going to get his first minutes of the season?

As for the Hawks — they are young and intriguing and talented but are also coming off a 29-win season where they finished in the bottom third in both offensive and defensive efficiency. The team addedd some veterans, and players like Young, John Collins and Kevin Huerter can be explosive. And we’ll see what the team asks of rookies Cam Reddish and De’Andre Hunter in the first game of the season.

Also, for some reason I feel like Alex Len always plays well against Detroit, so watch out for that. Though that was before contract year Dre came to town.

Lineup Prediction

Detroit Pistons

Reggie Jackson, Bruce Brown, Tony Snell, Markieff Morris, Andre Drummond

Atlanta Hawks

Trae Young, Cam Reddish, De’Andre Hunter, John Collins, Alex Len

One Big Question

What does Luke Kennard do for an encore?