The Pacers and Pistons finish their two-game series in Detroit on Monday night.
The Indiana Pacers (31-37) and Detroit Pistons (15-53) appear to be seeing how low you can go into their respective playing rotations and still win.
At least, we have to assume the players on the court want to win as the two teams finish their two-game set in Detroit on Monday night. On Saturday, the Pacers won without Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner, TJ McConnell and Bennedict Mathurin running past the Pistons without Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Bojan Bogdanovic and a few other rotation players unbale to go.
The four Pacers players have been ruled out, again for Monday and Buddy Hield is now questionable. Hield does not like to sit games regardless of the circumstances and showed up for the team’s shootaround earlier in the day, so if he is a scratch his availability would lie in the trainer’s hands.
The Pacers have won six of their last nine games and now have the same record as Washington and Portland, although tie breakers put the Pacers 8th from the bottom currently, as well as a half game behind Chicago for the final play in spot. We’ll see if the back end of the Pacers depth chart can deliver another strong performance before the team’s schedule toughens up.
DraftKings Odds: Pacers -3.5, O/U 226.5 (latest DraftKings odds here)
When: 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI
TV: Bally Sports Indiana/Bally Sports + app
Radio: 93.5 FM/107.5 FM
Projected Starting Lineups:
Pacers: Andrew Nembhard, Chris Duarte, Buddy Hield, Aaron Nesmith, Isaiah Jackson
Pistons: Killian Hayes, Rodney McGruder, Isaiah LIvers, Jalen Duren, James Wiseman
Injuries
IND: Buddy Hield – questionable (sore foot), Kendall Brown – out (tibia stress fracture surgery), Tyrese Haliburton – out (bruised knee), Bennedict Mathurin – out (ankle sprain), T.J. McConnell – out (sore back), Myles Turner – out (sore lower back)
DET: Marvin Bagley III – out (sore ankle), Bojan Bogdanovic (out – Achilles tendinopathy), Alec Burks – out (sore foot), Cade Cunningham – out (tibia stress fracture), Hamidou Diallo – out (ankle sprain), Jaden Ivey – out (health and safety protocols), Isaiah Stewart – out (shoulder impingement)
Please share your thoughts and observations on the game in the comments.