Now that the Detroit Pistons rebounded from their season-long four-game losing streak with a clear-cut, decisive 38-point win over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night, the squad’s attention shifts towards a dangerous albeit shorthanded Philadelphia 76ers unit for tonight’s matchup. 

The Pistons have a couple players on the injury report themselves, but Detroit finally found an answer without Ausar Thompson’s defensive ability in the lineup for their last game. Without AT patrolling the perimeter and jumping passing lanes against the Nets, Detroit actually hit 50% of their three-pointers on the night and cruised to a comfortable 138-100 victory over their Eastern Conference opponents earlier in the week. 

In a game filled with one-way traffic, Cade Cunningham logged a smooth 21-point, 15-assist performance while connecting on four of his five attempts from downtown. Pistons big man Jalen Duren added another 20 points himself, and Detroit hopped back in the win column after a challenging week of hoops. 

As for Philadelphia, the 76ers are just over .500 on the road this season at 17-14, and the Atlantic Division outfit has faced their fair share of challenges since returning from the All-Star Break. 

Before securing a 10-point win over the Memphis Grizzlies two nights ago, Philadelphia had lost four of their last five games and were in a bit of a tailspin. But against the Grizz, Cameron Payne came off the bench with a huge 32-point effort to lead the 76ers to a 139-129 victory at a crucial moment in their season. So, the Sixers will be motivated to build some momentum in Motown tonight against the top seeded team in the Eastern Conference even if the odds are stacked against them from an availability standpoint. 

Outside of that recent snapshot, the Sixers are still progressing without Paul George during the nine-time All-Star's 25-game suspension for violating the NBA's anti-drug program. The earliest that George can return would be for the Sixers' game on March 25 against the Chicago Bulls, so he won't be a factor in tonight's game either. 

Along those lines, the Pistons have a stable injury report with Thompson set to miss his fourth consecutive game with a sprained right ankle. Caris LeVert, who sat out the 38-point win against the Nets, is still dealing with a sprained left wrist, and the 10-year veteran will miss tonight’s contest as well. Apart from Thompson and LeVert, Pistons rookie Chaz Lanier will be available for action. 

For the Pistons’ opponent, the Sixers have a couple notable absences that will significantly impact their lineup. Tyrese Maxey is currently dealing with a tendon injury in his pinky finger, and the dynamic scorer is still a couple weeks away from returning for Philly. As for Joel Embiid, the multi-time All-Star big man has an oblique injury that is still about a week away from subsiding, so he will be inactive for tonight’s game as well. Kelly Oubre Jr. is also expected to miss the Eastern Conference matchup with a sprained elbow that still hasn’t completely healed, and he'll be joined by Paul George on the sidelines. 

After the Pistons easily dispatched the Nets on Tuesday night and Jalen Duren posted another 20-point performance after the All-Star Break, Detroit head coach J.B. Bickerstaff made his pitch as to why JD should be in the running for the title of the NBA’s Most Improved Player. Now, Bickerstaff is far from an unbiased observer in this scenario, but he does have the added benefit of studying Duren at a degree far closer than perhaps anyone else in the league, so JB’s evaluation should still carry a level of direct insight. 

“I think it’s easy,” Bickerstaff began. “If you watch us play and if you watched us play consistently over the past year and a half, two years almost, the steps that he’s taken even from the beginning of last year to this year becoming an All-Star and basically becoming a dominant force on both ends of the floor. So, you’ve got to recognize a guy who works that hard and you give him credit for the work he put in over the summer to continue to get better and understand what he wanted to make this year out to be. And I’ll say it again, his numbers aren’t hollow. His numbers impact winning as well.”

At the moment, Duren has worked with Cunningham this season to combine for the third highest points per game total between two Pistons players in franchise history, which only helps to further advance Bickerstaff’s argument. 

While the Sixers have had a few stars bounce in and out of the lineup, rookie V.J. Edgecombe has been consistently impactful for Philadelphia all season long. Averaging 15.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists, Edgecombe has been a physical presence in the back court for the Sixers and has contributed to the team even outside of those standard statistical boundaries. 

In his first year, the Baylor product has used his elite athleticism to push the 76ers to top five positions in deflections (20.8) and loose ball recoveries (5.2) per game, so the hustle factor has been in no short supply from Edgecombe. Philly also checks in as the 5th team in the NBA for passes each night (303.8), so Edgecombe has been trusted to swing the rock around to his teammates at a high volume right off the bat in his career, which makes his 1.8 turnovers per game on over 35 minutes of action per night even more impressive. 

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