After the last game, the OKC Thunder played it’s safe to say that was the low point of the season and even as a franchise. While everyone will focus on the 73 point differential it’s unfortunate years from now no one will remember the top two players were out injured or that a key veteran and reserve player was also out.
With Josh Giddey and Derrick Favors dealing with the flu, it’s highly possible there were others also feeling the effects since a flu bug has the tendency to run rampant through a roster.
At season start, this was what experts like Zach Lowe predicted would occur but he expected it to happen more frequently. Of their 16 losses aside from the Grizzlies match the Thunder have lost by double digits on eight occasions.
Four of those losses were by 12 to 13 points, three times by 21 to 24 points and once by over 30 points (Rockets in the second game of the season). The other seven losses were by less than 10 points.
OKC Thunder seek to rebound from 73 point loss, face the Pistons
While last week was a rough stretch for the OKC Thunder who lost all three of their matches losing twice to the Rockets and to the Grizzlies.
In fairness, Houston is on a roll having won six in a row including beating the Bulls and Hornets. Their losing streak has reached eight games in a row.
Similarly, the Pistons arrive also on an eight-game losing streak but had some very competitive matches. Detroit pushed the Warriors (lost by three) were within five and four points of beating the Lakers and within eight of the Heat.
This past week they played only two games versus the Blazers (92-110) and Suns (103-114) losing both by double-digits.
Key matchup:
The hope is Josh Giddey has recovered from the flu so OKC Thunder and Pistons fans can witness the rookie showdown with Cade Cunningham. While many projected Cunningham would be the best of his class he’s consistently ranking below Giddey, Evan Mobley, and Scottie Barnes.
Cunningham got a late start to the season after suffering a bad ankle sprain. He missed five of the first six games of the season and took a while to mesh with his pro team.
In 17 games he’s averaging 14.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.2 steals. Like Giddey, his issue has been the shooting efficiency with Cade averaging 37.1 percent from the field and
28.7 percent from the perimeter.
Like Giddey he’s making subtle improvements which can be seen from his first nine games where he shot 34.6 and 25.8 from the field and perimeter versus the last eight games where he’s shooting 40 and 32.1 percent.
The irony of course is Cunningham was considered the cream of the 2021 class mostly due to his overall game and potential to fill up the box score. And while he’s improving upon his scoring the fact that Giddey is too but also collecting more rebounds and assists is telling.
As much as everyone will be excited to view the two rookies (assuming Giddey is good to go) the player who Mark Daigneault needs to do the most preparation for is former Thunder teammate Jerami Grant.
The forward really began to improve under the tutelage of then assistant, Adrian Griffin in OKC. During his time in Denver, he took another step with his star rising during the playoffs. In free agency, he elected to sign with the Pistons and is their primary star but many wonder, if he’ll remain with Detroit, or if the franchise will move him now when his value is high.
It’s a bit of a perplexing puzzle for Grant and the Pistons as they are trying to build around Cunningham. And while Grant has done his best as the primary star for Detroit the reality is he’s better suited as a secondary or more accurately the third star on a deep squad.
For example, his 3-point shooting has regressed to 33.3 percent and much of that may be due to the extra attention he elicits as the primary scorer. Through 21 games he’s averaging 20.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.0 block in 33 minutes.
Key Stats:
The Pistons rank In the big three statistical categories, the Rockets rank 29th (100.0) offensively, 22nd defensively (109.7), and 28th for net differential with a minus -9.7 net rating.
Clearly, the match versus the Grizzlies will impact the OKC Thunder big three categories and take a while to counteract. They begin the week ranked 30th offensively (99.1), dropped from 14th to 21st defensively (109.2) after the Grizzlies game which also hit them in net differential (-10.1) with them dropping to 30th.
Scoring:
The Pistons score 98.9 per game, ranking 29th overall, and allow opponents to score 108.5
which ranks 22nd.
The Thunder also saw their scoring stats impacted by the 73 point loss dropping to 30th in scoring per game with 98.1 points while allowing opponents to score 108.2 points per game ranking 20th.
Rebounding:
On the glass, the Pistons grab 42.4 rebounds per game ranking dead last. Offensively, Houston pulls down 10.7 boards which rank fifth overall.
The Thunder dropped from the top spot to eighth averaging 46.1 boards per game and10.1 offensive boards which ties them with the Warriors in 16th.
Dime dishers:
As for playmaking, Detroit averages 21.3 assists which ranks 28th while the Thunder resides in the 30th spot dishing 19.7 assists per game.
Perimeter:
The Pistons ranks 30th from beyond the arc shooting with an efficiency of 29.9 percent
while OKC struggles from deep also shooting 30.2 percent to rank 29th.
Turnovers:
The Pistons turnover the ball 15.1 times per game which is tied for 24th.
Miscellaneous Categories:
Offensively the Pistons are active with their hands which leads to turnovers but ironically they don’t translate that into fast break scoring. Also surprising is how poorly they do at scoring in the paint.
- Points off turnovers: 17.3 – ranks10th
- Second Chance points: 12.5 – ranks 17th
- Fast break points: 10.2 – ranks 26th
- Points in the paint: 42.2 – ranks 26th
Defensively the Pistons allow far too many points to be scored off turnovers so it’s an area the Thunder should look to take advantage of and also drive the ball to score in the paint. Detroit is one of the better teams at defending the break and transition.
- Points off turnovers: 18.3 – ranks 28th
- Second Chance points: 12.1 – ranks in a four-way tie for eighth
- Fast break points: 11.4 – ranks ninth
- Points in the paint: 46.0 – ranks 16th.
NOTE: These stats were pulled prior to games played on December 6th from NBA official site and could experience shifts as games tip-off.
Injuries and projected starting lineups:
Pistons projected starting lineup:
- Killian Hayes – point guard
- Cade Cunningham – shooting guard
- Saddiq Bey – small forward
- Jerami Grant – power forward
- Isaiah Stewart – center
Pistons injuries:
- Hamidou Diallo won’t get to face his former team he’s out with a face fracture
- Kelly Olynyk is out six to eight weeks with a sprained knee
- Cory Joseph is doubtful with a sore knee
- Isaiah Livers is on G-League assignment
- Jamorko Pickett is on G-League assignment
- Chris Smith is on G-League assignment
OKC Thunder injuries:
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander practiced with the team but has to pass the concussion protocol set by the NBA.
- Vit Krejci is on G-League assignment
- Aaron Wiggins is on G-League assignment
- Theo Maledon is on G-League assignment
Check back later today when Rylan Stiles will provide the most up-to-date injury report.
History:
The clubs have played each other 141 times all-time with the OKC Thunder holding the advantage of winning 73 matches versus 68 by the Pistons.
Last season, the Pistons and Thunder played twice with Detroit winning both matches. This is the first meeting between the teams this season with the second game set for April 1st in Oklahoma City.
Game Specifics:
Venue: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Tip-off: Monday, December 6th, at 6:00 p.m. Central Time (7:00 p.m. EST)
Where to watch: Bally Sports Oklahoma or NBA League Pass
Radio: WWLS 98.1 FM