NBA Game Preview - Phoenix at Detroit

Wed Feb 5, 2020 7:00 PM EST

There's no easy way to predict which Detroit Pistons will suit up for their home game against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.

Not only has the team been ravaged by injuries but also its front office is aggressively trying to make trades to begin a rebuilding process.

The Pistons' star forward, Blake Griffin, is likely out for the season after undergoing knee surgery. Their top wing player, Luke Kennard, has missed over a month of action due to bilateral knee tendinitis.

Point guard Derrick Rose sat out Monday's 96-82 loss at Memphis after being diagnosed with an adductor strain. Shooting guard Svi Mykhailiuk and reserve forward Markieff Morris missed the game due to hip injuries.

Kennard, Rose, Morris and center Andre Drummond could all be dealt before Thursday's trade deadline.

The short-handed Pistons have lost six of their last seven games. After pulling off an overtime upset against Denver on Sunday, they had nothing left in the tank against the Grizzlies. They shot 34.7 percent overall and scored just 29 second-half points.

"Ugly is the best word I can use. It was just the opposite of the way we moved the ball (Sunday)," coach Dwane Casey said. "I said it before the game: We're a 50-50 team. Fifty percent of the time, we do the right thing, it looks beautiful. Fifty percent of the time, we don't.

"Once we decide to flush everything out of our head, what's going on around us, and just play the right way, we'll be a decent team."

Drummond scored 25 points, but the rest of Casey's makeshift lineup shot blanks most of the game. Tony Snell, Sekou Doumbouya, Bruce Brown and Reggie Jackson combined for 23 points and shot 16 percent (8 for 50) from the field.

"I thought we were getting open looks, but again, we were 1-for-18, 1-for-19 on the runners, the midrange shots," Casey said. "If you're shooting (those poorly), struggling, you've got to take it another dribble in there and then kick it out, or take it in for a layup and get it a little closer. We were taking those runners from the elbow, dotted lines. You can't win that way."

This is the first of two meetings between the Suns and Pistons. They'll play again in Phoenix on Feb. 28.

Phoenix is also struggling, having lost its last three and six of its last eight. The Suns have surrendered an average of 117.5 points in the six losses.

They have been blown out in the first two games of their three-game road trip. Milwaukee pounded them 129-108 on Sunday and Brooklyn blasted them 119-97 on Monday.

"We just lost a bit of our poise (Monday)," coach Monty Williams said. "It was a three-point game at the half, and we didn't make shots in the third quarter. I think our shot quality was decent. Brooklyn packed the paint and dared us to shoot the ball and we couldn't make shots. When you miss that many shots in a game it's going to be tough."

Shooting guard Devin Booker, who scored 32 points against the Bucks, had a particularly rough night. He scored 11 points on 3-for-15 shooting and made four turnovers.

"They did a good job of taking me out, face guarding and switching on matchups," Booker told the Arizona Republic. "It's one of those nights, but we'll be back at it in Detroit."

--Field Level Media