It’s still the preseason, which means the games don’t matter and we’re all thinking process over results. That makes the mental game between Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond even less important tonight when the Detroit Pistons go to Philadelphia to take on the 76ers. Which is good, because I don’t feel like going through this again:
I own a lot of real estate in @andredrummondd head and I’m on my way to build more #Bum #TheProcess pic.twitter.com/Mrf2NcNL4r
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) November 3, 2018
Game Vitals:
When: October 15, 2019, 7:00 p.m. EST
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBA TV
Analysis:
Canadian NBA.com actually has a really nice recap of the Embiid-Drummond blood feud, which I guess is less of a feud and more the taller, stronger, more skilled played repeatedly beating the other guy. It did give us this, though:
Most boring record I’ve ever watched live. pic.twitter.com/YJPJfFqHrb
— Mike Snyder (@M_James_Snyder) November 3, 2018
Last time we saw Joel Embiid, of course, he looked... less composed. I think it’s good that Embiid was so emotional about something that mattered so much to him and it’s good to see men display emotion publicly. But I’ll be damned if his pain didn’t sustain me for a time.
Anyway, more importantly for your Detroit Pistons, Blake Griffin is out tonight (and, it sounds like, tomorrow against Charlotte) with hamstring soreness.
Per #Pistons, Blake Griffin is out and did not travel with team due to hamstring soreness, and Markieff Morris is questionable with illness. Detroit in Philly tonight.
— James Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) October 15, 2019
Blake’s lack of explosion against Dallas was the first thing we talked about on this week’s DBB Podcast (Subscribe! Download! Rate! Review!), and a hamstring injury would definitely explain that. It is the preseason, but I am encouraged that the team is giving Blake the time he needs to come back to play, and play at his most effective. As Steve Hinson pointed out in his Tune-Up, Detroit has to keep Blake healthy this year.
Markieff Morris also being questionable means we could see a lot of Thon Maker and Christian Wood. Wood’s status on the roster remains the biggest question the Pistons will have to answer before the regular season begins. DBB has extolled Wood’s virtues this preseason, so you know where we stand on how that question should be answered. But it’d be nice for Wood to perform these final two games, especially on the defensive end, and make that question more answerable in the affirmative.
Lastly, tonight’s game is on NBATV, so no George and Greg, and let us hope the Pistons’ propensity for getting their faces blown off in national television games does not continue. Even in the preseason.
Let’s have a good one tonight, y’all.