Preview: San Antonio Spurs vs. Detroit Pistons – Game #58
Keldon Johnson and the Spurs desperately need a win tonight over the Pistons (Photo via Twitter)
The San Antonio Spurs (28-29) will look to snap their five-game home losing streak tonight when they host the Detroit Pistons. The Spurs haven’t won in the AT&T Center since they beat the Sacramento Kings on Mar. 31. Their latest home loss came yesterday, when the Miami Heat sprinted past San Antonio in the second half on their way to a 107-87 victory.
To add to the strangeness of their home woes, the Spurs have actually won four of their last five road games. For that reason, the fact that San Antonio embarks on a four-game road trip after tonight’s contest can’t be classified as bad news.
The Pistons haven’t had much success away from Detroit. They have a road record of 7-25, which is worse than every team in the NBA other than the Minnesota Timberwolves. Detroit has lost their last four road games. Their last road win came Apr. 8 against the Kings.
San Antonio Spurs Injury Update
Part of what made San Antonio’s home loss to the Heat so disappointing is the fact that everyone of importance was healthy. Only Trey Lyles missed the game — and he wasn’t in the rotation when he got hurt, anyways.
Tonight against the Pistons, Lyles remains the only player out for the Spurs due to an ankle injury. Head coach Gregg Popovich is expected to keep his same rotation this evening: a starting lineup of Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, DeMar DeRozan, Keldon Johnson and Jakob Poeltl, and a bench unit of Rudy Gay, Patty Mills, Drew Eubanks and Lonnie Walker IV.
Detroit Pistons Injury Update
The Pistons will be missing a number of key players against the Spurs, which will put even more pressure on San Antonio to take care of business.
Jerami Grant, the Pistons leading scorer, is out with a quad injury. Mason Plumlee, Wayne Ellington, Cory Joseph, Rodney McGruder and Dennis Smith Jr. will also miss the game. Hamidou Diallo is currently listed as questionable for tonight’s contest.
Possible starters for the Pistons tonight include Saddiq Bey, Josh Jackson, Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart and Sekou Doumbouya.
Spurs vs. Pistons – How the Spurs Can Win
It’s not quite as simple as showing up — but it shouldn’t be much harder than that, either. The Pistons aren’t a good team and many of their best players will be sidelined. Detroit would probably be happy with a loss to improve their lottery odds in the 2021 NBA Draft.
The Spurs have played well defensively as of late. If they can get their shooters going, this shouldn’t be a difficult game to win.