The Portland Trail Blazers head into the Motor City for their first look at the surging Detroit Pistons.
The Blazers team is banged up and battling. With five players sitting and a host of others nursing bumps and bruises, Portland is fresh off a solid victory over Cleveland, giving the team a 1-1 record on this five game road trip. They will face a Pistons team that has been one of the season’s biggest surprises.
Building on last season’s gritty playoff performance, Detroit has been kicking ass and taking names. The Pistons enter tonight’s showdown with a 17-5 record that includes a franchise-record-tying 13-game winning streak.
Detroit has gone 7-3 over the team’s last 10 games. Accolades have followed. Guard Cade Cunningham was the NBA player of the month in November while Pistons head man JB Bickerstaff took home the league’s coach of the month honors.
Portland Trail Blazers (9-13) vs. Detroit Pistons (17-5) – Fri., Dec. 5 – 4:30pm Pacific
How to watch via antenna or cable: See your options on the Rip City Television Network
How to watch via streaming: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; League Pass everywhere else
How to listen: Trail Blazers Audio Network
SB Nation Affiliate: Detroit Bad Boys
Trail Blazers injuries: Scoot Henderson, Damian Lillard, Matisse Thybulle, Blake Wesley, Jrue Holiday (Out)
Pistons injuries: Bobi Klintman, Duncan Robinson, Marcus Sasser (Out)
Make it Personal. Blazers forward, Jerami Grant, spent two years as the face of the Pistons. He led all Detroit scorers from 2020-22. Grant started this year as a standout sixth man for Portland. His scoring averages have come back to Earth as he’s moved into the starting lineup and faced stronger competition. To secure a win, the Blazers need him to square off against his former team with a chip on his shoulder.
A Loose Cannon. These Pistons have found an edge. Team enforcer Isaiah Stewart was ejected from Detroit’s Wednesday night loss to the Bucks for jawing with Bobby Portis and for raising a fist at him. (The same Isaiah Stewart once broke free of teammates, coaches, and officials and charged LeBron James like an NFL running back. Another time, he was charged with assault for punching out Blazers legend Drew Eubanks.)
A Moment of Silence. Elden“Easy E” Campbell, a member of the Detroit Pistons’ 2004 NBA Championship team, died unexpectedly on Monday Dec. 1, according to a release from the Pistons. He was 57.
His former Lakers teammate, Magic Johnson remembered Campbell in a post on X.
Duren is Unstoppable. I’m not sure if Portland has run a single pick and roll this season. The Pistons feast off it. Center, Jalen Duren will present one of the most difficult covers faced by the Blazers on this road trip.
D-Bo. Detroit has the NBA’s tenth best offensive rating and its fifth best defensive rating. The Athletic’s Law Murray says the addition of Duncan Robinson has impacted both ends of the court. (Subscription required)
“Robinson has actually played more minutes through Detroit’s first 20 games than any other player, and he is a 40 percent 3-point shooter who also finds a way to contribute defensively (one of four Pistons with at least 20 steals).”
From Bad Boys to Nasty Dogs. Isaiah Stewart isn’t the only tough guy on the Pistons’ bench. Detroit wins with an improved young core led by Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren. The team has a formidable defensive foundation with rim protectors like Duren and Stewart, and perimeter defense from Ausar Thompson. Coach JB Bickerstaff dubbed this his team “nasty dogs,” and two-way guard, Daniss Jenkins, expanded on the moniker. (Subscription required)
“We’re all nasty dogs, nasty boys, whatever you want to call it. That’s us. A bunch of mutts. You don’t want no mutt in your house. Nobody likes mutts. We’re nasty boys, that’s what we are.”
Real Men Wear Red, White & Black. Every game Tiago Splitter looks down the bench and sees a squad of young multi-millionaires in street clothes. Portland has played without a veteran point guard for three weeks. But, stones aren’t measured on stat sheets, and this team plays like it doesn’t believe in ceilings. Master Splitter should rip a page from JB Bickerstaff. Earlier his season, he told reporters: “That’s the good thing about winning, it’s the best anti-inflammatory, it’s the best painkiller.”
Or as late, great Al Davis put it: “Just win, baby.”