Heading into tonight's home game against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons have a difficult task to work through. The Lakers have won nine consecutive games on the bounce with both Luka Doncic and LeBron James in rhythm post-All-Star Break, while the Pistons, on the other hand, are looking to stay locked in without Cade Cunningham in the lineup. 

To help mask the loss of their All-Star floor general, Detroit has shifted to a Jalen Duren-heavy offensive attack that's been led by Daniss Jenkins at the point lately, and the Pistons have produced three straight victories in Cunningham's absence, including one on the second-leg of a back-to-back. Jenkins filled the stat sheet with 22 points, seven rebounds and eight assists against the Golden State Warriors on Friday night, and that's the type of effort the Pistons will need to snap LA's nine-game winning streak.

Without Cunningham and Sasser in the lineup, the Pistons are set to rely on Daniss Jenkins for another heavy workload of playmaking responsibility on one end while going up against the Lakers’ oversized, uber-skilled on-ball creators in James and Doncic on the other end. Now, Tobias Harris and Ausar Thompson are likely to draw the majority of those matchup when the game is filled with starters on each side, but the Lakers force a lot of switches with how often they set screens, so Jenkins could be thrust into some unfavorable matchups for Detroit depending on the flow of the game. 

To help minimize the impact of those potential defensive mismatches, Jenkins will look to continue playing with confidence while Cunningham is sidelined. This season, Jenkins averages nearly 15 points per game and just under eight assists per game with Cunningham out, and the second-year guard’s brought intensity on the other end too with 1.3 steals per game in those responsibility-laden scenarios. Here's a look at Jenkins' production with another Dynatyze graphic: 

To dive a bit deeper into the metrics, Jenkins is a +9.4 with a true shooting percentage above 50% across nine games as the primary point guard for the Pistons this year. Almost 30% of Jenkins’ production comes as a pick and roll ball handler when Detroit's set up in the half-court, but the dynamic speedster also successfully feathers the gas pedal to push the Pistons into transition at a high rate as well (21.8%). So, Jenkins offers a high-octane version of Detroit basketball that pounces on lazy transition defense when the Pistons are able to force turnovers, which is a pillar foundation of what head coach J.B. Bickerstaff looks for. 

There are few players in the world who can create (and hit) their own shot at the level of Luka Doncic, so the Pistons will need to direct their full attention towards containing the Slovenian scorer. But that’s exactly where the Lakers punish teams– LeBron James, even in his advanced age, needs to be respected as one of the elite playmakers in the game, so their combination will force the Pistons to decide who if they’ll send double-teams at the All-Star pair. 

This season, Doncic is averaging 33.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 8.4 assists per game for the Lakers, who have risen to the third seed in the Western Conference recently. Detroit will have their hands full when it comes to stifling the Doncic-James combo without Stewart in the lineup, so look for the Pistons to deploy their defensive-minded second unit specifically when Luka and LeBron are on the court together later tonight in an attempt to disrupt the Lakers’ greatest scoring threats.

The Lakers attack the mid-range more than almost any other team in the league, and they do so at a remarkable rate of efficiency. The Lakers lead the league in field goal percentage while getting to the second-level both early and often, so the Pistons will need to remain disciplined in their switches when looking to contain Doncic's dynamic on-ball impact. 

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