After a couple of days of rest, the Oklahoma City Thunder continues their Eastern Conference road trip with a meeting in Detroit against the surging Pistons. The Pistons have been a pleasant surprise for the league this season, emerging from the depths of the standings from the last couple of years to 6th place in the East coming down the final stretch of the season.
Starting with a win against the Philadelphia 76ers on February 7th to get to .500 on the season at 26-26, Detroit has gone 12-4. They’ve slipped up a bit lately, dropping 3 of their last 5 games, but they play with a youthful energy that reminds me of the Thunder. The Pistons show their youth in their 15.4 turnovers per game, which could be a key factor for OKC, who forces the most across the league.
The Thunder will be without Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, and possibly Aaron Wiggins, but they are coming off a big win in Boston against the Celtics when they were also missing some games. OKC is about as deep as a team as there is, and even if the starting 5s go point for point with each other, I think the Thunder’s depth can be the difference. It doesn’t hurt that the Thunder has the league’s top scorer in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Regardless of who can score, though, defense is going to play a key role, and the Thunder need to continue to move in the direction of getting stops and scoring out of that. If OKC can turn Detroit over even close to what the Pistons average, I feel good about the Thunder coming out on top.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 6 PM CT
Location: Little Caesars Arena (Detroit, Michigan)
Television: FanDuel Sports Oklahoma, KSBI-52 (OKC)
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live tweets and discussion during the game
Game Notes: Oklahoma City Thunder Official Game Notes, Detroit Pistons Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Cason Wallace
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Aaron Wiggins
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Pistons
- PG: Cade Cunningham
- SG: Tim Hardaway Jr.
- SF: Ausar Thompson
- PF: Tobias Harris
- C: Jalen Duren
Injury Report
Thunder
- Branden Carlson (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Alex Ducas (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Isaiah Hartenstein (nasal fracture) is AVAILABLE.
- Chet Holmgren (rest) is OUT.
- Ajay Mitchell (sprained right great toe) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (left knee surgery) is OUT.
- Aaron Wiggins (illness) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Jalen Williams (strained right hip) is OUT.
Pistons
- Ron Harper Jr. (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Jaden Ivey (fractured left fibula) is OUT.
- Daniss Jenkins (G league — two-way) is OUT.
- Bobi Klintman (G League — on assignment) is OUT.
- Tolu Smith (G League — two-way) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 21-10 against the Pistons (12-3 at home, 9-7 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series against the Pistons 7 times, lost it 1 time, and tied it 8 times.
- The Thunder went 1-1 against the Pistons last season (1-0 at home, 0-1 on the road).
- The Thunder has lost the last 2 meetings with the Pistons in Detroit.