It will be a battle of early-season undefeated teams as the 2-0 Detroit Pistons will visit the 3-0 Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday evening at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Both teams hope to contend for the Eastern Conference title, and both teams went about it in very different ways. The Pistons kept a young core intact, and their biggest move of the offseason was adding journeymen John Collins and Isaiah Joe. The Sixers, meanwhile, swung a huge trade of Paul George for Jaylen Brown and then convinced a little-known
player named LeBron James of winding down his career in Philly.
Game Vitals
When: 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Watch: TV: TV20 Detroit | Streaming: DAZN-Detroit
Odds: Pistons +1.5
Analysis
While this stands as a great test for the Pistons, they will not have their full complement of players. Jalen Duren has already been ruled out for tonight and the next two weeks with a hamstring injury suffered against the Miami Heat. The Pistons might also be without star defensive forward Ausar Thompson, who sustained an ankle injury against the Heat.
Duren left that game early in the second quarter and Thompson exited early in the third, and the Pistons were still able to cruise to victory over the Heat. But the Sixers should be a different story.
The good news with Duren out is that the Sixers are also expected to rest Joel Embiid after the big man notched a triple-double against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday. LeBron, who sat out that game Saturday, is expected to suit up.
The Pistons know that Paul Reed is more than capable of making winning basketball plays whether in a starter or reserve role. More interesting, and potentially worrying, is what the Pistons will do with their backup center minutes. I imagine it will be an opportunity for the organization to look at John Collins as a backup five. It also is another opportunity for the Pistons to become the prolific 3-point shooting team nobody thinks they are.
Without Duren and Thompson, two non-shooters, potentially replaced in the starting lineup by Reed and Isaiah Joe (or maybe Javonte Green), and having Collins play minutes at the five, expect a lot of five-out action. Last season, the Pistons attempted just 30.9 threes per game (29th in the NBA). It’s early, but through two games, they are hoisting 39 per game. After tonight, they could rank in the top five in 3-point shooting volume in the NBA. Weird.
Projected Lineups
Detroit Pistons (2-0)
Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Isaiah Joe, John Collins, Paul Reed
Philadelphia 76ers (3-0)
Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, Adem Bona
Question of the Game
How many 3-point attempts for the Detroit Pistons tonight?
