The Detroit Pistons are desperate to wash the stink off after a season-worst showing against the New York Knicks in a 125-81 loss on Saturday. The Knicks were lighting the Pistons up from 3 and Detroit showed very little resistance on either end of the floor. It wasn’t exactly an auspicious return for rookie Killian Hayes, who played nearly 20 minutes off the bench and shot 0-of-3 from the floor.
Honestly, the team can burn all of the game tape except for this play.
The team couldn’t ask for a better time to face Troy Weaver’s former team. The Oklahoma City Thunder are in free fall because of injuries and an even harder pivot into playing its young guys. We’ll get to see plenty of Aleksej Pokusevski and our old friend Svi Mykhailiuk in the starting lineup for the Thunder.
The Pistons might have lost to the Knicks by 44, but the Thunder are coming off consecutive losses of 37 points and 48 points, respectively.
The man Svi was traded for, Hamidou Diallo, will likely come off the bench for Detroit, but he’s had a significant impact since arriving in the D. He’s been electric as a defender and is shooting 58% from the floor and 55% from 3. Even when his offensive numbers come crashing back down as they inevitably will, Diallo looks like he’ll be a big part of Detroit’s rebuild going forward.
Game Vitals
When: 7 p.m. EST
Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Watch: Bally Sports Detroit
Odds: Pistons -3
Projected Lineups
Detroit Pistons (14-35)
Saben Lee, Josh Jackson, Saddiq Bey, Jerami Grant, Isaiah Stewart
Oklahoma City Thunder (20-29)
Theo Maledon, Svi Mykahiliuk, Kenrich Williams, Aleksej Pokusevski, Moses Brown