Pistons vs. Wizards preview: The two worst teams in the league square off

I think this is the first and only time you will be able to say this, but this is a must win game that the Pistons should not have any issues with winning. The Pistons may not be a better team than the Wizards, if anything it is a wash, but they are at home and are closer to full health than they were last week.

The fact that the Pistons may be a better team than the Wizards isn’t much to hang your hat on as the Wizards have just entered their rebuild while the Pistons have been at it for 4 years. But this is the perfect matchup to have at this time as the Pistons are one more loss away from tying the franchise record losing streak.

The Wizards could be without Jordan Poole, which would make this an even more favorable matchup for them.

Game Vitals

Where: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI
When: Monday, November 27 at 7 pm EST
Watch: Comedy Central (it is actually on your local broadcasting network)
Odds: Pistons (-2.5)

Analysis

*Cue the Circus Music*

Both of these teams are bad and they should feel bad about it. If I were in charge of National TV scheduling, I would be flexing this game to ESPN, but that is just me.

The Wizards are on a 9 game losing streak while the Pistons are on a 13 game losing streak. Somebody has to win this game even if both teams seem to not want to do that.

There is no excuse for the Pistons at this point, they have to win this game. Jordan Poole is questionable with an ankle injury, and if he does not play, then there are even less excuses for not winning this game.

Kyle Kuzma has been a Piston killer the last few years, but outside of Kuzma there isn’t a whole lot for the Wizards to work with, especially if Poole doesn’t play. They have a couple of solid young players in Corey Kispert and Deni Avdija along with fun rookie Bilal Coulibaly, but guys like Landry Shamet and Mike Muscala off the bench aren’t exactly instilling fear into opposing teams. Of course, that means that both players will score 20 on 5-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc.

The Wizards also have Tyus Jones, who is finally getting a chance to start. He has been one of the better backup point guards in the league, and hasn’t been too bad as a starter, but he is more of a game manager than somebody that will score a bunch on you. And for a team like the Wizards that don’t have a ton of scoring punch outside of Kuzma and Poole, it isn’t a recipe for tons of success.

The Wizards will probably struggle to handle Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, as they don’t have a ton of good wing defenders, so this should be a game where the two of them show why they were top picks in the draft. Hopefully, the combination of Ausar Thompson and Isaiah Stewart on defense can slow down Kyle Kuzma a bit so he doesn’t get cooking.

If the Pistons let Kuzma get hot, they could be in for a long night.

The Pistons are favored to win this game, but if they enter this game like a team that is expected to win, we will be talking about the franchise-record losing streak in the postgame recap. Put simply, the Pistons can win this game playing how they have been the last few weeks, which hasn’t been great, but if they take their foot off the gas for even a short stretch it isn’t going to end well.