DETROIT — The Detroit Pistons are probably getting used to being without key players at this point and they’ll need to be ready in case another won’t be available Saturday night against the Los Angeles Clippers.
While starters Jalen Duren and Tobias Harris remain out and star guard Cade Cunningham is questionable to suit up, impact big man Isaiah Stewart is now questionable due to illness.
With an already depleted front court and Detroit’s leading scorer — Cunningham — missing Wednesday night against the Chicago Bulls, Stewart took the offensive burden and scored a career-high 31 points in a victory at Little Caesars Arena.
The reigning Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month has cycled in and out of the starting five due to the other injuries on the team, but his impact has never wavered.
In the 11 games Stewart has started this season, the Pistons are 10-1. For the season, Stewart is averaging 10.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game. He’s also served as one of the best, if not the best, rim protectors in the NBA with a defended field goal percentage of 43.7% inside six feet.
On Wednesday Stewart continued to prove he’s made strides on offense and can pace a unit to a victory. Now his impact might be missing alongside the typical starting front court tandem of Harris and Duren.
Duren is set to be re-evaluated very soon after a right ankle sprain has kept him out the last three games and Harris is at least another week from a re-evaluation with a left hip sprain.
Cunningham could miss his second straight game with a wrist contusion, an injury very little information has been shared on, including when it was suffered and the severity.
When asked after practice on Friday if Cunningham or Duren took part, coach J.B. Bickerstaff joked that “I don’t know if they practiced or not. I forgot.”
None of Cunningham, Harris or Stewart were seen at shootaround Saturday morning at the Pistons’ Performance Center. Duren was present and getting physical working off to the side during shootaround.
So with the Pistons keeping their cards close to their chest on Cunningham and Stewart, the lineup Saturday night could look fairly different to what we’ve seen this year, particularly as bigs go.
Paul Reed would figure to make his fourth straight start, but alongside him the Pistons could go small and put forward Ron Holland in the starting group or give two-way center Tolu Smith his first career start for some additional size.
Either way, missing Stewart would be a blow to the Pistons for Saturday. The hope would be that four days off following the matchup should be enough time to get Stewart, among others, back and healthy.