The Detroit Pistons have one final home game left in the regular season, and it’s a Central Division showdown against the Milwaukee Bucks
With three games remaining in the regular season, the Detroit Pistons are hosting the Milwaukee Bucks tonight for their home finale, and the two Central Division squads could not be in more different positions.
At 57-22, the Pistons have an opportunity to hit the 60-win threshold for only the third time in franchise history if they win out. The Bucks, on the other hand, enter tonight’s contest at 31-48, and they’re already knocked out of contention for the play-in games. And following that trend of the two teams in polar opposite spots, the Bucks are embroiled in a messy back and forth dispute with Giannis Antetokounmpo regarding his health and availability during the final portion of the season.
The Pistons do not have an inkling of that type of locker room drama, and Detroit is on the brink of entering the postseason as the top group in the Eastern Conference. To that effect, the Pistons have held onto that lofty spot despite All-Star point guard Cade Cunningham’s absence over the past two-plus weeks, but there is a chance that the floor general could suit up for tonight’s contest. Cunningham was upgraded from out to doubtful just before the Pistons’ most recent game against the Orlando Magic two days ago, so he’s moving in a positive direction at a crucial juncture.
UPDATE: Cunningham is now expected to play tonight against Milwaukee.
Apart from Cunningham’s multi-week issue, the Pistons have closely monitored Isaiah Stewart ever since the shot-swatting big man went down with a left calf strain. Initially, Stewart was set to miss one week before his health was reevaluated, but Beef Stew has been unable to shake the injury and might not make his triumphant return until the playoffs.
On the other side of tonight’s matchup, the Bucks were in action last night and had several absences from the lineup with another handful of players active but on the injury report, so Milwaukee is likely to work with a depleted bench tonight as well. As mentioned earlier, Giannis sat out given all the drama currently surrounding his health, but the Greek sensation was joined by a litany of players in last night’s 96-90 loss to the similarly struggling Brooklyn Nets. In its entirety, Milwaukee’s list of absences includes Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Trent Jr., Bobby Portis, Myles Turner, Kyle Kuzma and Ryan Rollins.
Since Milwaukee is scrambling to cobble its starting lineup together during the tail end of a season where they’ll miss the playoffs, each night presents a bit of a guessing game as to who will play. The Bucks opted to sit their most influential players in an attempt to out-tank the Nets, and in that sense they accomplished their goal.
According to ESPN, the trio of Turner, Rollins and Kuzma are listed as day-to-day, so they could suit up for tonight’s matchup against the Pistons. Turner is battling an ankle injury, while Rollins has a hip ailment and Kuzma is recovering from achilles tendinopathy.
The most notable element of tonight’s game from a health perspective is whether or not Cunningham is able to suit up. Right now, Cunningham is just a couple games short of being eligible for the NBA’s end of season awards, so every game will count down the stretch.
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