Detroit — The Pistons suffered another blow to their roster on Thursday when Isaiah Livers suffered a right shoulder sprain.
The second-year forward, who started the last two games at the shooting guard position, was injured in the first quarter of Thursday’s 131-125 overtime win over Dallas. It is unclear how long Livers will be sidelined, but Pistons coach Dwane Casey offered an update after practice on Saturday.
“He’s going to be out for a little while,” Casey said. “I don’t know exactly how long. I don’t want to put a date on it. He could bounce back maybe quicker than normal, but he’s going to be out for a little while.”
Livers ran into a screen set by Mavericks forward Dwight Powell, who was called for an offensive foul on the play. On the next Pistons possession, Livers knocked down his second 3-pointer of the night. He tried to play through the next couple of possessions, but was unable due to the pain. He left the game at the 5:08 mark and was later ruled out of the remainder of the game.
“They cracked him on a screen. He went shoulder-first,” Casey said. “I got on him though, because it didn’t bother him when he came down and made a 3. He got it up there and it was nothing but net.
“But that was something that was unfortunate because Isaiah has quietly become one of our better on-ball defenders. We’ll miss him but now it’s an opportunity for somebody else to step up and take that role.”
Livers joins Cade Cunningham (left shin soreness) on the Pistons’ injury report. He has started the last seven games and is averaging 5.8 points and 2.3 rebounds while shooting 35% from the 3-point line.
The Pistons have had players in and out of the lineup for the majority of the season, which led to nine different starting lineups during the month of November. Livers’ injury likely means Jaden Ivey, who returned from a knee injury on Thursday, will re-enter the first unit.
Casey said Sunday during his pre-game press conference that his starting lineups will likely depend on matchups.
“Some of it, when we’re in flux like we are now, it’s going to depend on the opponent,” Casey said. “We can go a lot of different ways. We can put Saddiq in there. I don’t want to continue to mess around with Saddiq because I think his great role is with our second unit. I don’t look at him as a second-unit guy. I look at him as a starter.
“That’s the only question we have as a staff. Do we start Saddiq and keep going back and forth? That’s not fair to him to do that. Right now is what we’ve been wanting to do before Isaiah (Livers) got hurt. We’re still trying to make that decision.”
mcurtis@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @MikeACurtis2