When: 7:30 PM EST; Saturday, November 1st, 2014
Where: The Palace of Auburn Hills; Auburn Hills, MI
TV: YES Network
After one of their worst Opening Night losses in team history, the Nets look to rebound tonight against the Pistons, who just can’t get out of their own way. The Pistons, led by new coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy, are 0-2, losing to the Nuggets and Timberwolves without Greg Monroe, who has been suspended for an offseason “driving while impaired” charge.
Monroe’s suspension was originally set for two games, so will be back in the lineup for the Pistons, although it will be off the bench, not in the starting lineup.
Already, Josh Smith has been criticized–by Kenneth Faried of Denver no less–for shooting too much and costing Detroit games. Faried said that and it’s not necessarily untrue, but it didn’t help that Monroe wasn’t available to play.
Going back to the Nets, Brook Lopez will miss yet another game, as he reportedly suffered a setback with regards to his foot injury. The timeline for his return is officially indefinite now, which is really, really not good. It doesn’t mean he’ll be out for a long time, but the uncertainly is what concerns me in this situation. The Nets need a healthy Brook for them to be good.
It’s not like the Nets stop playing games when Brook is out, though, so they need to overcome his absence in order to right the ship. That’s something they need to do sooner rather than later, as the grumbles are only going to get louder if the losing continues. The Nets need to stop the bleeding started by the debacle against the Celtics.
Probable Lineups
BKN- Deron Williams (PG), Bojan Bogdanovic (SG), Joe Johnson (SF), Kevin Garnett (PF), Mason Plumlee (C)
DET- Brandon Jennings (PG), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (SG), Kyle Singler (SF), Josh Smith (PF), Andre Drummond (C)
Final Thoughts
There’s no denying that the Pistons have some talent, but they’re still trying to figure out an identity which is why they just aren’t that good as a team.
The normally bad shot selection of Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings doesn’t help either, but it’s clear this team has some franchise-worthy pieces, namely Andre Drummond. Monroe, whose contract is up soon, is also a very good player who can sometimes fly under the radar. Without Brook Lopez, the Nets could have trouble with those two as well as Smith in the frontcourt.
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