Opponent Scouting: Utah Jazz. (10-18)
Tonight at 7:00pm EST the Detroit Pistons will be hosting the Utah Jazz at the LCA. The Pistons have had 2 days of rest as they continue their historic losing streak while the Jazz are on the second night of a back-to-back after losing to the Cavaliers last night.
The Them:
The Jazz are bad, they are not as bad as the Pistons, but they are bad. They feature the league’s 26th-ranked offense and 25th-ranked defense. Since a surprisingly good start to last season, they have largely returned to earth as the not-very-good rebuilding team they were expected to be.
Despite the team not being good, last seasons breakout star Lauri Markkanen is still very good. The Fin is averaging 23 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, shooting the ball well, getting to the line, and generally playing exceptional basketball. So even though much of last season’s hot start has proven to be something of a mirage, Markkanen wasn’t. After him though, it does start to get bleak. Collin Sexton is still an effective scorer although he isn’t playing a ton these days and never did really learn to be an effective passer. Walker Kessler is a good defensive center but hasn’t done a ton to build on his surprise rookie season (which isn’t all bad because his rookie season was exceptional), Talen Horton-Tucker can do some creation for himself and also passes the ball pretty well (he somehow nearly leads the team in assists), Simone Fontecchio is a 6’8 white guy who can shoot 3s.
Their team is diminished by Jordan Clarkson and Keyonte George. Clarkson is for sure out tonight and George missed their last game and is listed as day-to-day. Neither guy has had an awesome season (especially shooting the ball) but they are also the closest things the Jazz have to proper point guards as they are 1 and 2 on the team in assists per game (at 5 and 4.9 respectively). Even with those two healthy the team already seemed to often have a critical lack of proper ball-handlers, without them their offense is about as clunky as you will see on an NBA floor. They have to lean HEAVILY on Sexton who is not good as a facilitator, and basically pray that Markkanen scores a ton.
Off the bench, John Collins has largely been a disappointment since arriving from the Hawks but he is still an athlete who also has real skill. Pistons legend Kelly Olynyk is still out here being tall and shooting threes. Kris Dunn is apparently holding onto his NBA career here and he can still defend I assume.
This team is bad. It isn’t as bad as the Pistons but without their two best ball-handlers they might be pretty close. When you toss in that the Jazz are traveling on the second night of a back to back while the Pistons got two days rest, this really is the game to break the streak.
Matchups to watch:
Pistons vs. Markkanen: Markkanen is the Jazz best player by a mile, and the Pistons don’t have a good answer for him. If Stew comes back tonight he is probably the best option but he’s still probably too short to effectively guard him, maybe you stick Ausar on him and just hope Markkanen doesn’t get too comfortable shooting over him. Either way, this is the guy they need to stop. If the Jazz win it is most likely because Markkanen was the best guy on the floor.
Pistons vs. Digging deep and winning the game: I hope all the players care right now, I hope they are actually bothered by this losing streak, and I hope it matters to them to try and not break the record. Every single player needs to play this like its a playoff game or something.
Pistons bench vs. Not blowing it: A rare case where the Pistons bench may well have an on-paper advatage! As long as Alec Burks doesn’t commit basketball terrorism they should be in good shape.
WIN THE GAME