NBA Matchups: November 27

WAS @ DET | POR @ IND | LAL @ PHI | NOP @ UTA | DEN @ LAC

Washington Wizards at Detroit Pistons

Team Totals: Wizards 116.8, Pistons 119.3

Injury Report: Jordan Poole (Q, ankle), Bojan Bogdanovic (O, calf)

Wizards projected starters: Tyus Jones, Jordan Poole, Deni Avdija, Kyle Kuzma, Daniel Gafford

Pistons projected starters: Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson, Isaiah Stewart, Jalen Duren

Unseld quotes: Said he liked how they played against the Bucks with good energy, said everything was good on Friday except for giving up too many free throws.

Monty quotes: Nada.

Stats and Notes: 

*Can the Pistons get a win? They have lost 13 straight games, and it’s largely because of their offense cratering. Their defense also hasn’t been any good, and getting Jalen Duren back didn’t help things with the Pacers dropping 136 on them. Can the Wizards get a win? They have lost nine straight, and we all know this team just gives up the goods for terrible defense and their up-tempo style. The Pistons have a terrible transition offense and Cade’s inefficiencies are a big reason why they are 27th in offense. The Pistons take away a ton of 3-pointers and their on-ball coverage has been quite bad despite Ausar Thompson’s impact. The Wizards are last in defense overall and they get smoked inside, so the Pistons will have a big opportunity to get it going here.

*The Jordan Poole injury here is a big deal. On Saturday, Poole was not listed at all in the back end of a B2B, and he was suddenly ruled out. It sounds like it was minor, so he could be out there. If he can’t, it’ll be Corey Kispert getting another start while basically the entire team benefits from a usage standpoint. Kispert wouldn’t be a great play with the Pistons not giving up off-ball shooting. If Poole can go, he likely gets a really tough matchup against Ausar Thompson.

*Tyus Jones is somewhat interesting today. The Pistons will likely put Jaden Ivey on him, and we know how long it took Monty Williams to have the confidence to start Ivey for his defense. Jones doesn’t have a big upside, but his role would grow sans Poole.

*Kyle Kuzma continues to pick up a huge handling role, including leading the team in touch time last game. Unseld wants him to be more of a playmaker, and it’s led to a career-high 4.6 assists and a 30.6 usage rate. He’ll get a lot of Isaiah Stewart here, so it’s not the easiest of matchups. Still, Kuz is in a good spot and no Poole would add a ton to his ceiling.

*Daniel Gafford is fine here, and things would get better if they do bring Jalen Duren off the bench again. Gafford has shown a minutes ceiling in close games, and his minutes won’t line up with Duren too much.

*Can we get a Cade Cunningham ceiling game here? He’s been so bad. Cade has posted just 0.80 PPP in the halfcourt, and his overall PPP of 0.82 is the worst among the 62 players with 250 possessions used. Well, the good news is his role is still great, and he gets one of the easiest matchups possible. He’s up to second in the league in drives per game, and he’s starting to get a little better there from an efficiency standpoint. This has to be the Cade spot. Right? Right?!?

*Jaden Ivey is starting to come alive, coming off a season-high 25 points against the Pacers. Sure, that matchup was about as easy as it gets for his open-floor style, but credit to him for getting out of the doghouse that included things going as badly as an 11-minute outing on Nov. 12. The Wizards may have to put Jordan Poole on him to give him arguably the easiest matchup on the team, and you could make a case the Wizards playing so fast is better for him than it is for Cade. Look for Ivey to keep it going.

*Play centers against the Wizards
???????
Profit.
Obviously Jalen Duren is in a huge spot here, and he wasn’t really on a minutes limit in his return on Friday. I’d prefer him over Isaiah Stewart.

Great matchups: Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren

Good matchups: Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Poole, Cade Cunningham, Tyus Jones

Bad matchups: Corey Kispert

———————————————————————–

Portland Trail Blazers (back end) at Indiana Pacers