Let’s stir the pot a bit, this might be Jerami Grant’s last game in Detroit as a visitor if you like to believe free agency rumors in the middle of the season. I am not making a prediction or anything, but there could be a reason why he hasn’t signed an extension with the Blazers yet.
With that out of the way, the Pistons will be facing the Blazers for the final time this season and Saturday’s loss to Cleveland tied them with Houston for the worst record in the NBA!
The Pistons don’t want to win many games the rest of the season, and I don’t think they will have to worry about that even if they try.
Where: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI
When: Monday, February 6 at 7 pm EST
Watch: Please don’t, but if you want to it will be on Bally Sports Detroit
Odds: Pistons (+6.5)
Don’t be tempted by the Pistons on a Monday night. You may think that you have to watch this game, but you don’t. You pretty much know what is going to happen.
However, if you feel inclined to watch, this will probably be a high scoring game as the Trail Blazers are not good at defense just like the Pistons. Except the Trail Blazers’ bad defense looks elite compared to the Pistons’.
Damian Lillard has been on a scoring tear the last month, which includes a 71 point game. He is averaging 32.5 points per game this season, and you can pretty much pencil him in to exceed that mark in this game. If everybody was healthy for the Blazers, the scoring might be more evenly distributed, but with Jusuf Nurkic and Anfernee Simons out, there really aren’t any other scoring options.
It is pretty much just going to be the Jerami Grant and Damian Lillard show. We got to see the Jerami Grant show in the last matchup as he scored 36 points in a 135-106 beatdown. And that was before Damian Lillard ascended to the level he is currently playing at.
The Pistons probably don’t stand much of a chance in this game at full strength, but they will also be short-handed as Bojan Bogdanovic, Jalen Duren, and Isaiah Stewart are all out while Killian Hayes, James Wiseman, and Rodney McGruder are all game time decisions.
We might see 48 minutes of Marvin Bagley in this game since the team with all the centers somehow might only have one healthy big man in a game. If Killian Hayes doesn’t play, the Pistons best on-ball defender will be out, which means Damian Lillard will have free reign to do whatever crazy things he can do as a scorer.
The Pistons have not won a game since the All Star break, and I don’t see that changing in this one. In a game that will probably be a shootout, they will not have a healthy player that can come anywhere close to matching the scoring output of Jerami Grant, let alone Damian Lillard.
Detroit Pistons (15-49): Jaden Ivey, Alec Burks, Hamidou Diallo, Isaiah Livers, Marvin Bagley
Portland Trail Blazers (30-34): Damian Lillard, Cam Reddish, Mattise Thybule, Jerami Grant, Drew Eubanks
Will the Pistons end up with the worst record in the NBA by season’s end?