The Portland Trail Blazers are set to face the Detroit Pistons on Monday, Jan. 6, with tip-off scheduled for 4:00 PM PST at the Little Caesars Arena. One of the key storylines will be Chauncey Billups' reunion with the team he played for from 2002 to 2009, making four of his five career All-Star appearances and, most importantly, winning the NBA Championship in 2004, where he was also Finals MVP.
Detroit will honor "Mr. Big Shot" in multiple ways, including a Billups bobblehead, video montages, and a halftime photo speed paint of Billups. Billups has the highest win percentage (.676) to go along with the fourth most assists (2,984) in Pistons' franchise history and certainly deserves the tribute.
Blazers injury report vs. Pistons on Monday, Jan. 6
Here is the Blazers' injury report:
- Jerami Grant: Out (face contusion)
- Matisse Thybulle: Out (right ankle sprain)
- Deandre Ayton: Available (rest)
Update: Ayton is officially available and will remain in the starting lineup as expected.
Ayton was initially listed as questionable and was at risk of missing the game due to rest, but the Blazers' big man should be available, as he has since been upgraded to probable.
With Grant set to miss his fourth consecutive game, look for Portland to have a starting five of Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija, and Ayton. Simons, in particular, has been playing much better lately -- he's had four straight games of at least 22 points after an inconsistent and slow start to the season.
Detroit Pistons injury report
Here is the Pistons' injury report:
- Jaden Ivey: Out (fibula)
- Ausar Thompson: Out (illness)
Update: Ausar Thompson has been downgraded from questionable to out. Detroit will start Cade Cunningham, Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr., Tobias Harris, and Jalen Duren.
Jaden Ivey is out for at least the next month after, unfortunately, suffering a broken fibula in his left leg. It's a significant loss for Detroit as Ivey was having the best season of his young career, averaging 17.6 points, 4.0 assists, and 4.1 rebounds on 46/41/73 shooting splits.
Despite Ivey's absence, the Pistons head into the matchup as home favorites. A large part of that is due to the play of Cade Cunningham this season, who is coming off a 40-point performance in their most recent win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Portland does have two defensive-minded wings with excellent positional size -- Camara and Avdija -- who can help contain Cunningham.
Another factor that could help the Blazers pull off their second consecutive upset is that Detroit doesn't force many turnovers. The Pistons average 7.3 steals per game, the third lowest in the league. That's important for a young Blazers team that lacks a true floor general, as they average the fourth most turnovers at 16.6.