Pistons vs. Clippers preview: Pistons could roll out new lineup

The Detroit Pistons are looking for solutions. Solutions to being the worst team in the NBA, solutions to recent third-quarter blowouts, and solutions to losing eight of is past nine games. There is only so much you can do with the roster as it stands — it’s not like rearranging things will suddenly make this team good. But Dwane Casey is exploring changing up the lineups — either a new starting crew outright or switching things up in the third quarter.

The most obvious candidate for a change would be rookie Jaden Ivey, who is struggling mightily on defense and is finding intermittent success on offense. Swapping out Ivey for a more reliable Alec Burks at shooting guard could help provide a more solid baseline on both ends of the floor. Ivey could still do his thing and probably have even more ball-handling responsibilities off the bench.

Game Vitals

When: 7 p.m. ET
Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Watch: Ball Sports Detroit
Odds: Pistons +6

Analysis

The Pistons are bad and routinely give up more than 120 points per game. They have surrendered at least 120 in 10 of the previous 13 games. Somehow they’ve amassed three of their eight wins in that span, but there are few silver linings to find on this squad.

The defense feels like it’s destined to be one of the league’s worst all season. So that means we focus on the offensive developments of rookies like Ivey and Jalen Duren and third-year players like Killian Hayes and Isaiah Stewart. There are definitely positive developments with all those players, but the bar is relatively low. Then there is Bojan Bogdanovic, who can simply hope goes on a month-long heater so that it is impossible not to trade him for a haul at the trade deadline.

The Clippers aren’t playing great, though Kawhi Leonard is the forever wild card with that team. They are figuring things out, especially on the defensive end. They have the league’s second-best defense in their past seven games. Their offense is another story, but if I’m pitting LA’s putrid offense against Detroit’s awful defense, then I’m taking LA’s offense every time.