This Wednesday, the (7-19) Detroit Pistons will travel to New Orleans, LA to take on the New Orleans Pelicans. Tipoff will be at 8:00 PM EST inside the Smoothie King Center. These two teams have had opposite starts to the season, as the Pelicans have been hot and the Pistons are still searching for their seventh win.
The Detroit Pistons are coming into this game after falling to the Memphis Grizzlies, 122-112. They struggled on the defensive end of the court, as they couldn't come up with enough stops to stay competitive in that game. The Pistons will have to apply more pressure in this one if they want to take down the Pelicans on the road.
The New Orleans Pelicans are entering this matchup after taking down the Denver Nuggets, 121-106. The Pelicans were great on both ends of the floor, as they shot 50.6% from the floor. They will have to stay hot in this one if they want to take care of bu siness at home.
This game was written/published before last night's results.
The Pistons are currently in 14th place in the Eastern Conference standings, as they trail the first-place Boston Celtics by 14 games. They will have to get hot if they want to fight back into playoff contention. On offense, Detroit is scoring 110.1 points per game and they are shooting 44.7% from the field. This is the 24th most points scored per contest and the third-lowest team shooting percentage. According to dunksandthrees.com, the Pistons have an adjusted offensive rating of 110.6, which is the 22nd-highest rating in the league. Bojan Bogdanovic has continued to lead the way on the offensive end of the court, as he is scoring 20.6 points per game on 50.8% shooting from the field. Detroit is also shooting 33.8% from behind the arc, as they have multiple players that can get home from deep. This is the 20th-highest team three-point shooting percentage in the NBA. Detroit has also struggled at the charity stripe, as they have only made 77.4% of their shots at the line. This is the 20th-highest free-throw shooting percentage in the league. They can't miss these free looks at the rim and still expect to win these games.
On the defensive end of the court, the Pistons have also had a difficult time making consistent stops. According to dunksandthrees.com, they have an adjusted defensive rating of 117.2, which is the second-highest rating in the league. They are currently surrendering 118.2 points per game and their opponents have shot 48.7% from the field. This is the second most points allowed per contest and the third-highest shooting percentage allowed from the field. They have to contest more shots near the rim and on the perimeter, if they want to stay competitive in these games. Luckily, the Pistons have continued to close out on open jump shooters, as their perimeter defense has saved them at different times this season. They are only allowing their opponents to shoot 35.2% from deep, which is the 13th-lowest three-point shooting percentage allowed in the NBA. Detroit is also snatching 42.4 rebounds per game, which is the 24th most in the league.
Injury Report: Cade Cunningham PG (Shin) and Isaiah Livers PF (Shoulder) are listed as out for this game.
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