The Pistons are trying to shake off a frustrating 112-106 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, and the next challenge comes with a much bigger spotlight attached. Detroit now gets the Lakers, a team powered by the league’s top scorer in Luka Doncic and an offense that has been rolling at 122 points per game.
Detroit’s last outing had plenty of offense, even if it didn’t end the way the Pistons wanted. Duncan Robinson poured in 27 points and hit 7 of 11 from deep, while Cade Cunningham added 26 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds. Those two will again be central if Detroit wants to keep pace.
Doncic has been the headline act for Los Angeles all season. Through 10 games, he’s averaging 40 points per game while shooting 49.8% from the field and 41.9% from three, making almost six threes a night. He’s also putting up seven rebounds and seven assists per game, and he was All-NBA First Team last season alongside Cunningham.
Austin Reaves gives the Lakers another major scoring threat. He’s averaging 23.5 points per game, and together with Doncic, he forms the highest-scoring duo in the NBA. That puts a lot of pressure on a Pistons defense that has been the best in the league so far, allowing just 101.8 points per game.
Detroit’s plan will likely start with Ausar Thompson on Doncic, but he won’t be the only one asked to take a turn. Head coach JB Bickerstaff has multiple options, and Ron Holland could be one of the more interesting looks. Holland’s size and strength could give Doncic a different kind of problem, and the Pistons may need both Thompson and Holland to make the matchup uncomfortable.
The Lakers also have Walker Kessler anchoring the middle after signing for huge money in the offseason. His size and versatility around the rim, plus his ability to finish lobs, add another layer to a difficult matchup.
One more wrinkle: Doncic is questionable with lower back tightness.
The Pistons and Lakers tip off at 3:30 from Little Caesars Arena.
In Other News...
Luka Doncic Is Forcing A New Lakers Question Fast
Luka Doncic keeps making the Lakers scoring conversation feel less like a nice problem and more like a nightly reality. In the 124-118 win over Portland, he poured in 53 points with five rebounds and five assists, carrying Los Angeles through a game that demanded nearly everything from him. It was the kind of performance that also had head coach JJ Redick praising him afterward, which has become a familiar refrain as Doncics workload and production keep climbing together.
The bigger question now is what this run means for the way the Lakers are built around him. Doncic has now put together four straight 40-point games, a stretch that places him in rare company in franchise history and underscores just how quickly he has become central to everything Los Angeles does on offense. For a team trying to balance winning now with finding a sustainable formula, his latest outburst only sharpens the debate about how far this version of the Lakers can go if he keeps carrying this kind of load. [Read more 🡒]
Blazers Loss To Lakers Put Portlands Biggest Role Questions Back In Focus
The first NBA Cup game of the season offered Portland a familiar kind of frustration, the sort that can make a promising night feel suddenly unfinished. The Trail Blazers had control early against the Lakers, building a double-digit cushion in the first half, and they got strong work from Deni Avdija, who came close to a triple-double, while Damian Lillard carried the scoring load for much of the night.
But the loss also pushed the Blazers biggest role questions right back into view, especially around the backcourt where Scoot Hendersons uneven night stood out. With Luka Doncic driving the Lakers comeback, Portland was left sorting through the same issues that have followed this group for stretches, and the result was another reminder that the team still has to find a cleaner balance when the game tightens and the pressure rises. [Read more 🡒]
Anthony Davis To Lakers Talk Comes With One Huge Problem
Anthony Davis midseason move to Washington has already created a new layer of intrigue for the Lakers, even if it is still early in the process. ESPNs Brian Windhorst said the Wizards are taking a measured approach, wanting to see Davis over a meaningful stretch before making any call on an extension, which naturally shapes how the rest of the league has to view him. He has gotten off to a productive start in Washington, averaging 23.4 points and 9.3 rebounds in his first eight games there, and that kind of production is enough to keep the speculation machine humming.
For the Lakers, though, the path back is not simple. Any talk of a reunion runs into the reality that Los Angeles does not have much left in the way of premium trade pieces, which makes a big swing far more complicated than the name value alone would suggest. Until Washington makes its long-term intentions clearer, Davis remains one of the more interesting players to monitor on the market, but the Lakers are hardly in position to chase him without serious hurdles. [Read more 🡒]