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The Detroit Pistons will be without two of their starters tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks as the team announced Blake Griffin and Josh Jackson will not suit up tonight.
It’s no surprise in both cases. Griffin is officially sitting for left knee injury management and Jackson with a right ankle sprain sustained in Detroit’s loss to the Boston Celtics.
Watching Griffin deliver some .... satuesque performances so far this season, the fact that the team feels compelled to sit him on the second half of a back-to-back makes perfect sense. Griffin is either cooked, indifferent or still coming back from an injury, and while all three are terrible options, I suppose the latter is the most hopeful. Perhaps with more time, rest and proper management he can get back to looking like a semblance of the player he was when he arrived in Detroit.
Jackson’s injury is sad as he had been one of the brightest bright spots this 1-and-5 team has mustered so far this season. He is playing his own personal brand of controlled chaos ball, and it’s paying off for him. He’s shooting just 31% from 3, but he’s taking them with confidence and they look so pretty you can forgive yourself for thinking he could creep into that 36% sweet spot. He’s also driving hard and there has been remarkably effective.
Jackson shoots more than one-third of his looks from within three feet of the basket and he’s converting at a terrific 74%. His defense has been a bit erratic but he had the makings of a great story this year. Let’s hope he’s not gone for long.
In Jackson’s place, the Pistons have some intriguing options. With Grant sliding down to power forward tonight that means both shooting guard and small forward are open. The Pistons would be choosing between rookie Saddiq Bey (who has started two games already), Delon Wright (two starts) and Svi Mykhailiuk to fill two spots.
Mykhailiuk is coming off his best game of the season, scoring 15 points in 14-plus minutes. Wright, meanwhile, could be a second point guard to have on the floor to either support Killian in the starting lineup or Derrick Rose, who has struggled, off the bench.