We have reached the point of the season where the previous versions of the Pistons would be resting players with “injuries” to try to improve their standing in the lottery. Now, every game matters as the Pistons try to catch the Pacers and/or Bucks for the 4th or 5th seed in the East. What a difference a year makes.

In the case of tonight’s game, a Pistons win combined with a Bucks loss will put them into sole possession of 4th in the East since the Pacers do not play. Luckily for the Pistons, they face a Wizards team that they just beat by 20 points on Tuesday.

The Wizards are in a similar boat to the Pistons of last year. They do not have quite the losing streak the Pistons had, but are a young team with some misfit veterans that leads to some pretty ugly basketball night-to-night. I think the Wizards are a bit better equipped to keep themselves in games than last year’s Pistons team, but this game shouldn’t be too tough for the Pistons to win as long as they play with the same effort they displayed on Tuesday.

Game Vitals

Where: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI

When: Thursday, March 13 at 7 pm EST

Watch: Fan Duel Sports Network Detroit

Odds: Pistons (-13.5)

Analysis

Tuesday’s game got a bit chippy, as there were a couple of dust ups along with a couple of elbows by the Wizards that connected with a Pistons player’s face. Luckily, both teams came out unscathed, but for a mid-March game involving two teams heading in opposite directions, it was probably a bit more physical than you would like.

Luckily, we get to do it all again with no game in between for either team to cool off.

There isn’t much more to analyze about this game than what was said on Tuesday as it is the same injury report and the same players playing.

But, for the Pistons the ball is in their court. Just like a few weeks ago when the Pistons played the Bulls back-to-back and blew them out in the first game, they did not lay down and die in the 2nd game. It wasn’t exactly a close game, but the Bulls played hard and kept things close through the first half. I would expect the same out of the Wizards.

Their roster is a bit of a land of misfit toys, but they have some solid veterans like Marcus Smart, Khris Middleton, and Rachaun Holmes along with young guys that play hard. It is a similar build to the Pistons, the Pistons have just been at this for a couple years more than the Wizards.

The Wizards also have Jordan Poole, who is more than capable of taking over a game with his shot making. He is also susceptible to shooting a team out of a game, but the Pistons will need to be careful.

At the end of the day, these are the games you must win if you are a legitimate playoff team. The Pistons don’t exactly have anybody hot on their trail, but the Atlanta Hawks have some easy games coming up and are currently 5 back of the Pistons. Losing to a team like the Wizards before you face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday could be the opportunity a team like Atlanta needs to try and catch you in the standings.

Losing to the Wizards tonight makes Saturday’s game against the Thunder more of a must-win, which is not a position you want to be putting yourself in.

Just take care of business, get out of this game healthy, and move on to Oklahoma City.

Lineups

Detroit Pistons (37-29): Cade Cunningham, Tim Hardaway Jr, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren

Washington Wizards (13-51): Jordan Poole, Justin Champagnie, Khris Middleton, Kyshawn George, Alex Sarr

Question of the Day

Where do you think the Pistons end up in the final standings and who will they face in the 1st round?