During a rare weekend without a game on the schedule, the Detroit Pistons (51-19) were able to squeeze in a quick practice session before tonight’s home game against the Los Angeles Lakers (46-25), which is set for 7 pm tonight. Tonight’s matchup pits two of the league’s hottest teams against one another as the Lakers have won nine consecutive games and 12 of their last 13, while the Pistons have an active three-game winning streak with victories in six of their last seven. 

So, will the unstoppable force or the immovable object win out in tonight’s cross-conference battle? The answer to that question may come down to availability, which is well-known to be the best ability in sports. 

The Detroit Pistons will be without Cade Cunningham for at least another week and a half as the All-Star starter continues to recover from a collapsed lung that occurred early last week. Cunningham, who has missed the last two games in their entirety, was given a two-week timeline before he would be reevaluated, so the Pistons will continue to trudge forward without their floor general for the next several games at the minimum. 

Since Cunningham won’t factor into tonight’s battle, the Pistons will continue to prioritize early paint touches for Jalen Duren against the Lakers in an attempt to keep the first-time All-Star’s scoring streak intact. Duren set a new career-high with 36 points last week against the Washington Wizards, and the big man has averaged 23.3 points per game since the All-Star Break in what’s been a torrid start to the second half for JD. 

On the other side of tonight’s contest, Luka Doncic’s status was in jeopardy after the MVP candidate picked up his 16th technical foul on Saturday night, which automatically triggers a one-game suspension during the regular season. The Lakers, however, appealed the suspension successfully, so it looks like Doncic is going to be available to suit up tonight against the Pistons. 

As a group, the Lakers haven’t lost since March 5th versus the Denver Nuggets, so the Doncic-led squad has hit a serious rhythm during the runway to the playoffs. The Lakers have scored at least 100 points in each of those games with a high watermark of 142 points coming against the Chicago Bulls, and LeBron James even dialed back the clock with a vintage 30-point performance last week to help lift the Lakers over the Houston Rockets, 124-116. During that Western Conference duel, Doncic went off with 40 points himself as the dynamic duo lodged an impressive win over a dangerous postseason contender. 

From a macro perspective, the Lakers have honed in on the art of the mid-range jumper under head coach J.J. Redick with a half-court offense that hunts for off-ball action and weak-side screens to free up second-level looks. This season, LA scores the third-most on pull-up attempts in the association at 27 points per game with the fourth-most screen assists (8.9) while shooting at the No. 3 mid-range rate in the league. All together, the Lakers have the highest overall field goal percentage in the NBA, and that mark is a product of having two elite creators on the court together in Doncic and James. 

As previously mentioned, Cunningham is out for tonight’s game as he continues to receive treatment for his lung injury, but he’s not the only name on the Pistons’ injury report today. According to ESPN, Marcus Sasser is still listed as unavailable as he deals with lingering hip soreness that held the third-year guard out of Detroit’s game against the Golden State Warriors on Friday, so Daniss Jenkins is expected to continue his starting duty at point guard for the time being. ESPN also lists Stewart as out (left calf strain) with an estimated return date of March 28, so the Pistons, like many teams, are battling an injury-riddled fate during the final month of the regular season. 

The Lakers, on the other hand, are a relative beacon of health and prosperity without a single player listed as out heading into tonight’s contest. Maxi Kleber carries a questionable designation (back), but that’s the only injury concern for Los Angeles at the moment. With one month and a dozen games left in the regular season, health becomes a concern for almost every team across the association at this point, so the Lakers are one of the rare squads without a major injury or two to deal with. 

Since the Pistons will be forced to stretch their bench a bit further tonight, J.B. Bickerstaff will have an opportunity to continue integrating Kevin Huerter into the Detroit squad. Recently, Huerter has been one of the first players off the bench for the Pistons when they've been at full strength, so it seems likely that Detroit will stick with their attempt to add another reliable playmaking entity to their postseason rotation. 

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