Apparently it’s a rite of passage for contenders to drop one in Detroit. Then again, the Pistons have collected marquee home wins against Boston, Phoenix, Philadelphia, the Lakers, and Brooklyn. Their defensive rating of 120.4 points allowed per 100 possessions is even worse than L.A.’s offensive rating of 119.9. Detroit is the 20th-best defense in the league, but that drops to 27th when they face top-10 offenses. They did a lot of things well against the Clippers, including sharing the ball, generating extra possessions on the offensive glass, and hitting from long range, but they simply had no hope of stopping George and the rest of the Clippers. While the Clippers played last night, the Pistons have been waiting since Sunday for their second shot at L.A.

Pistons: Rodney McGruder (right elbow), Dennis Smith Jr. Pistons (16-38): Saddiq Bey, Josh Jackson, Mason Plumlee, Cory Joseph, Wayne Ellington Injuries/AbsencesĬlippers: Kawhi Leonard (foot) - QUESTIONABLE Serge Ibaka (lower back), Patrick Beverley (hand) - OUT Opposing perspective: Detroit Bad Boys Projected Starting LineupsĬlippers (38-18): Luke Kennard, Marcus Morris Sr., Ivica Zubac, Reggie Jackson, Kawhi Leonard Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan On the other side, Jerami Grant is set to return for Detroit after being out for a week he’ll be facing the Clippers for the first time since the Nuggets defeated L.A. George logged 38 minutes last night, so an encore seems unrealistic, though Kawhi Leonard could return to spell his superstar comrade since he did make the trip with the team. Paul George hasn’t played both nights of a back-to-back in a month, and that came when he had only played 23 minutes in the first game. The main difference this time? Availability. Three days after facing off in Los Angeles, the Clippers and Pistons are meeting up again in the Motor City. The Clippers’ next opponent will look very familiar, and that’s not because there are so many Pistons on L.A.’s roster that Dwane Casey called them “Detroit West”.

Detroit pistons bad boys roster