The top teams in each conference will meet when the Detroit Pistons host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night in a potential NBA Finals preview.
Unfortunately for basketball fans, we won't get to see a matchup of two of the best guards in the game in Cade Cunningham and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, though.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ruled out vs. Pistons due to abdominal strain
Gilgeous-Alexander has been officially ruled out of the game in Detroit due to an abdominal strain.
It will be the eighth straight game missed by Gilgeous-Alexander due to the issue. His last game action came back on Feb. 3 against the Orlando Magic.
So far on the current campaign, Gilgeous-Alexander has played in 49 games for the Thunder and posted averages of 31.8 points, 6.4 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per performance.
If Gilgeous-Alexander continues to miss too many more games, his chances of repeating as NBA MVP could be in jeopardy. Players must play in at least 65 regular season games to be award eligible. Gilgeous-Alexander needs to play in 16 more games to hit that threshold.
The game between Oklahoma City and Detroit is the first of two on the season. The Thunder will also host the Pistons at the end of march. Perhaps we'll see the teams meet again in June, too.
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