Piston’s vs. Sixers Preview: First and ESPN Camp against Healthy Sixers only

After a trading deadline where Detroit Pistons added a much needed secondary ball trader in Dennis Schroder, they now get to play their first and only ESPN games of the season (unless more added). To play on ESPN is not as big of a deal for a team as Philadelphia 76ersBut for an up and up piston team with an all-star in Cade Cunningham, you would think the league will show him more with more national TV games, but so far they have not added anymore.

This will be one of the few times this season when Paul George, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid have played together, which of course has to happen against the stamps that could be without Cade Cunningham after he rolled his ankle against Cavaliers on Wednesday. He is currently listed as questionable, but given how much the stamps have played in the last few weeks, I would say he probably won’t play.

So this game can be the worst possible scenario for the stamps, get back on back-to-back heartbreaking loss to Hawks and Cavaliers at the last second shot and faced a mostly healthy Sixers team.

Play vitals

When: 19:30 et
Where: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mi
Clock: ESPN or FAN Duel Sports Network Detroit
Odds: Stamps +3.5

Analysis

I know I said above that I think Cunningham won’t play tonight, but I keep out of a hope that he is playing as this is a national television game. I doubt he or the team doesn’t care so much when they need him healthy down the stretch, but his ankle rolled on Wednesday didn’t look like anything serious and he even played the last few minutes of the game. There have been plenty of times in this sports story where a player finishes a game after an injury and then realizes how much it hurts the next day, so it doesn’t necessarily matter.

It is unknown whether Dennis Schroder will play as the trade was just treated yesterday. I think he could play if Cunningham ends up missing tonight, but if Cade plays, they can keep him out and wait until Sunday’s game against Hornets. This is not one of the scenarios where the team is still waiting for the trade to be treated, it has ended with the league, it’s just a matter of whether the team will throw him out there after just joining the team. And to have only a healthy “Point Guard” in Marcus Sasser could be reason enough to throw him out there.

With the 76s were fully healthy, this game would be tough regardless of whether Cunningham plays, but without cade I do not foresee any way that the stamps win this game. 76ers’ “Big Three” is not included in the level of fear that people thought it would do before the season, but the individual talent for all three players is better than for any other player on the stamps outside the cade.

Tyrese Maxey has been great, which led the 76s in the scoring with 27.9 points per year. Match. However, Paul George has been a disaster. He average his lowest score since his second season of 16.9 points, while playing only in 31 games so far and shooting 42% off the field and 37% beyond the arch. He was supposed to be a huge upgrade over Tobias Harris for the 76s, but he has only been a marginal upgrade so far.

The biggest reason why Sixers are only 20-30 on the season is Joel Emphid. He has only played for 14 games this year and has not been as ineffective as scores since his 2nd year in the league. Granted, many of his problems with efficiency can be linked to the fact that he has been injured most of the year, but it is still not a recipe for success. However, Embiid had a triple double in his first game since the beginning of January Tuesday against Mavericks. He also tends to the torch stamps every time they play because the stamps just can’t prevent himself from burying him.

The only trade made by 76ers at the time of the deadline, Caleb Martin traded for Quentin Grimes and also sent KJ Martin to Pistons, who was then traded for Dennis Schroder. This means that this is the core that 76ers are locked for the rest of the season, so they have to hope for health for the rest of the year if they want to make a late run back in the playoffs. It sounds like Grimes should be available to play against his now former team.

This game seemed insignificant a few months ago, but now it is a game that could have some significance in the play-in Tournament position when we reach the end of the season. It is also a chance for the stamps to get the dirty taste of the blow-out loss for a short-handed 76ers team, the last time these two teams faced. If the stamps happen to be able to win, let’s hope they put the game away so they don’t lose on another last second shot.

Projected lineups

Detroit stamps (25-26)

Marcus Sasser, Tim Hardaway JR, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren

Philadelphia 76ers (20-30)

Tyrese Maxey, Kelly Oubre, Paul George, Guerschon Yabusele, Joel Embiid

Today’s question

Are you happy with what the stamps did at the deadline, or would you want them to do more?