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If the Detroit Pistons have to lose, I at least want it to be at the hands of LeBron James and Anthony Davis and not Talen-Horton Tucker and Kyle freaking Kuzma. Alas ... it looks like the Lakers are sitting out their stars tonight because they have nothing to fear in the Pistons. Perhaps they are right. On the other hand, Detroit was able to easily handle a Sixers team missing Joel Embiid. If victories have to come in small bunches, it might as well be against the Lakers. So I’ll be rooting the Pistons on!
Game Vitals
When: 8 p.m. EST
Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Watch: Fox Sports Detroit
Odds: Pistons +7
Projected Lineups
Detroit Pistons (4-14)
Delon Wright, Wayne Ellington, Jerami Grant, Blake Griffin, Mason Plumlee
Los Angeles Lakers (14-5)
Dennis Schroeder, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Talen Horton-Tucker, Kyle Kuzma, Montrez Harrell
Pregame Reading
John Hollinger has officially published his Jerami Grant mea culpa at The Athletic. After torching the Grant signing on the first night of free agency (he wasn’t the only one), Hollinger published his All-Suprise Team. Grant headed the list.
If you don’t have The Athletic, don’t worry because Hollinger offers up a condensed version of what DBB already wrote in our Jerami Grant profile by Ku Khahil. Essentially, he’s scoring in ways he never has before, getting to the basket despite an iffy handle, and doing it with high efficiency and without turning the ball over.
Here’s one fun nugget that was new to me though:
As a result, the Pistons haven’t even been that bad — they outscore opponents when he plays (+1.8 per 100) and get run out of the gym when he sits (-13.6 per 100), but overall, Detroit’s 4-14 mark would look a lot more respectable with more normal fortune in close games.