We get another Thompson Twin matchup as the Detroit Pistons face the Houston Rockets in Houston this evening, with the Pistons looking for their first win in the early season. That should be fun! We also get to see the Pistons face another skilled big man that can stretch the floor. That could be bad. Stretch bigs always seem to give the Pistons fits, and Nikola Vucevic was no exception in Detroit’s opening-night loss to the Chicago Bulls. Vuc scored 28 points, added 14 rebounds, hit four three-pointers and seemingly did whatever he wanted within 10 feet, whether it was an extended running floater or an easy look at the rim. The Pistons big men must be better. And so should Detroit’s 3-point shooting, which felt nonexistent in game one. They shot just 24 three-point attempts against the Bulls and made only seven. There were fewer than five games where they had such paltry attempts or makes in a single game. We need to see them play some modern basketball again.
Introducing some actual stretch should only help the few players who played well against the Bulls — namely Ron Holland, Ausar Thompson, Isaiah Stewart and Cade Cunningham.
When: 8 p.m. ET
Where: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Watch: Fan Duel Sports Network Detroit
Odds: Pistons +6.5
Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren
Amen Thompson, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Şengün, Steven Adams
