Visiting the Warriors floor next night, the Pistons will try to maintain their current good momentum of five wins in their last nine outings. Detroit has managed to raise the bar, and leave the seat of the worst team in the league to the Magic, despite two major absentees: Jerami Grant and Kelly Olynyk, incidentally the two highest salaries of the team (20 million and 12 million dollars ).
The first, who had to have thumb surgery, has not played since mid-December while the second, victim of a sprained knee, has been stuck in the infirmary since mid-November. The good news for the Pistons and those interested is that their return is becoming clearer.
The team’s top scorer with 20 points on average, the winger could return after the Pistons’ travel streak to the West, which ends this week. In the meantime, he’s been assigned to the lower floor at the Motor City Cruise.
” He looked very good, he was shooting very well”, described for Detroit Free Press, Rex Kalamian, the Pistons’ assistant who led yesterday’s practice. “He is where he should be. We’re thrilled he’s playing with the Motor City Cruise. He trains more with them and gets back in shape. It’s going to take a little time, I’m sure.“
Kelly Olynyk, who has only played ten games this season, is thus likely to find the floor before the winger, during this “road trip”. For Dwane Casey, his return should be easy.
“ He knew all the positions before his injury., notes his coach who mobilized him as a winger during the last “training camp”. “He’s a smart player. The most important thing with him is to get him back into physical condition. It won’t take him long to get used to the systems and the rest. He is excellent at shooting and passing. I’m not going to call him Dennis Rodman but on the rebound side he gives us some size on the inside that can help us rebound and protect the circle. He brings us a lot, especially in attack.“
In the absence of both players, Cade Cunningham and Saddiq Bey continued to assume their responsibilities in attack, both averaging around 17 points.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Jerami Grant | 24 | 33.2 | 41.4 | 33.1 | 84.9 | 1.0 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 20.1 |
| Cade Cunningham | 33 | 32.1 | 39.7 | 32.1 | 84.1 | 0.8 | 4.8 | 5.6 | 5.3 | 3.6 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 15.7 |
| Saddiq Bey | 42 | 33.7 | 38.0 | 33.1 | 82.8 | 1.4 | 4.7 | 6.1 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 15.0 |
| Kelly Olynyk | 10 | 23.0 | 45.9 | 34.1 | 60.0 | 1.3 | 4.0 | 5.3 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 2.7 | 12.5 |
| Hamidou Diallo | 35 | 22.2 | 52.0 | 26.9 | 61.1 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 10.7 |
| frank jackson | 33 | 22.7 | 40.3 | 33.3 | 83.0 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 10.7 |
| Trey Lyles | 39 | 19.1 | 45.0 | 28.6 | 78.3 | 1.3 | 3.5 | 4.8 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 9.6 |
| Cory Joseph | 31 | 22.5 | 45.6 | 44.3 | 85.2 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 8.0 |
| Josh Jackson | 33 | 18.7 | 41.6 | 27.6 | 70.2 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 7.8 |
| Isaiah Stewart II | 34 | 25.2 | 51.7 | 10.0 | 67.3 | 2.6 | 5.4 | 8.0 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 2.8 | 7.6 |
| Cassius Stanley | 7 | 20.3 | 40.5 | 25.0 | 100.0 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 6.9 |
| Killian Hayes | 32 | 26.0 | 34.7 | 30.0 | 84.8 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 6.3 |
| Derrick Walton, Jr. | 3 | 36.1 | 23.1 | 23.1 | 100.0 | 0.7 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 7.0 | 3.7 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 6.3 |
| Saben Lee | 23 | 15.8 | 38.5 | 27.3 | 75.6 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 5.8 |
| justin robinson | 5 | 18.2 | 32.1 | 38.1 | 33.3 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 5.6 |
| Luka Garza | 27 | 12.1 | 43.6 | 32.5 | 64.3 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 3.1 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 5.3 |
| Micah Potter | 3 | 10.3 | 45.5 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 4.0 |
| Cheick Diallo | 3 | 10.2 | 37.5 | 0.0 | 83.3 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 3.7 |
| Rodney McGruder | 17 | 9.5 | 38.6 | 23.8 | 75.0 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 2.5 |
| Deividas Sirvydis | 3 | 8.9 | 10.0 | 14.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.0 |
| Jamorko Pickett | 6 | 7.8 | 10.0 | 14.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Isaiah Livers | 1 | 4.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
| Trayvon Palmer | 1 | 16.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Jaysean Paige | 1 | 6.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
