Detroit Pistons at Los Angeles Lakers 1/5/19: Starting Lineups, Matchup Preview, Daily Fantasy
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Detroit Pistons at Los Angeles Lakers Preview
In an interconference matchup tonight, the undermanned Detroit Pistons will be traveling to Los Angeles for a matchup with the Lakers in hopes of continuing their winning ways in California.
In the Pistons’ last game yesterday, they beat the Golden State Warriors 11-104. The Pistons are currently in 11th place in the Eastern Conference with a 13-23 record. They ended a three-game losing streak with their win over Golden State, are 2-8 in their last 10 games and are 5-13 on the road.
The Lakers are first in the Western Conference with a 28-7 record. They have won four straight and look to extend that streak at home tonight. They are 6-4 in their last 10 games, which pushed them back a bit in competing with the Milwaukee Bucks for the league’s top record. At the Staples Center, they have a 13-4 record.
This will be the first of the regular-season series between the Pistons and Lakers.
TV Schedule
Date: 1/5/20
Time: 10 PM ET
Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Channel: FSD, SPECSN
Injuries
Pistons: Blake Griffin, Markieff Moriss, Luke Kennard, Reggie Jackson (O)
Lakers: Anthony Davis (P), Alex Caruso (Q), DeMarcus Cousins (O)
Detroit Pistons Starting Lineup
PG: Tim Frazier
SG: Svi Mykhailiuk
SF: Tony Snell
PF: Sekou Doumbouya
C: Andre Drummond
Pistons Analysis
The Pistons were reeling, losing three consecutive games before getting the win over the Golden State Warriors 111-104 last night.
One of their most consistent players on a nightly basis has been big man Andre Drummond, who had 14 points and 18 rebounds last night. Still, Drummond is almost always mentioned in Pistons trade talk, likely because he’s mostly been able to stay healthy and he has the highest market value of any player on their roster if the Pistons wanted to rebuild.
Just don’t expect Drummond to be happy to leave, even if it is from a losing franchise.
“I’m not a quitter, for one,” Drummond told reporters recently. “I was never brought up to be a quitter. If I start somewhere, I try to finish there, try to complete the mission, which is to win a championship here. It will never be me that wants to go anywhere. I love being here. I would love to play here the rest of my career.”
The Pistons do have some exciting young players who have been making some noise lately. Rookie Sekou Doumbouya started against the Warriors and had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Christian Wood has also looked exciting at times. Veteran Derrick Rose has still been able to play key minutes off the bench, but the Pistons have had injury troubles throughout the season, which has made it difficult to gain any kind of flow or chemistry.
They’ll have a big challenge in them, not only because they are playing the Lakers, but it is also their second game of a back-to-back.
Pistons Quick Links: Pistons Starting Lineup, Pistons Roster, Pistons Depth Chart, Pistons Injuries, Pistons News, Pistons Schedule
Los Angeles Lakers Starting Lineup
PG: Avery Bradey
SG: Danny Green
SF: LeBron James
PF: Anthony Davis
C: JaVale McGee
Lakers Analysis
In their last four games, the Lakers have been able to pick up wins over the Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns and on Friday, a 123-113 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Lakers fed Anthony Davis often and he ended the game with 46 points and 13 rebounds. His teammate, LeBron James sais its’ easier to feed the big man because he gets up and down the floor so quickly. Credit James for getting Davis implemented so well in the offense. He had 15 assists to go with his 17 points on Friday.
“He’s the recipient of our flow on offense because he’s just as fast as anybody on the floor, more dynamic than anybody that’s on the floor, does it better playing in the interior, playing in the exterior,” James said. “He can do so many things.”
Danny Green also played very well against the Pelicans. While Green always brings it on defense and can knock down a few corner threes a game, he was really hitting his shot on Friday night.
“My teammates did a great job of finding me,” Green said. “‘Bron gets to the paint spraying out, and just hit me in the corner. I get easy, wide-open open, rhythm shots in the corner, and once you see one or two go in, it’s easy to let the next ones go confidently.”
Green knocked down six three-pointers in the game and also contributed five assists and five rebounds.
Lakers Quick Links: Lakers Starting Lineup, Lakers Roster, Lakers Depth Chart, Lakers Injuries, Lakers News, Lakers Schedule
Key Player Matchups
Anthony Davis vs. Andre Drummond
This is the matchup of the night in my opinion. Davis is such a dynamic power forward/center and has more in his offensive repertoire than your classic back to the basket big man. He’s also quick on his fight and can extend his range. Drummond can also get his buckets and he eats rebounds for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We’ll see the battle of will tonight.
LeBron James vs. Tony Snell
Tony Snell’s defense is one of the main reasons he is in the NBA, but he’ll be guarding one of the league’s best tonight in James. James is smart enough not to force offense so Snell will have to be on his toes guarding against James’ perimeter shooting, ability to drive and passing.
Daily Fantasy
LeBron James and Andre Drummond are fantasy studs tonight. James is available on FanDuel for $11k and he has a projection of 49.4 points. Drummond is salaried at $9.4k and is projected to notch 43.1 fantasy points.
Lakers center JaVale McGee is a nice value player. For just $3.6k, he is projected for 21.3 points. Doumbouya is also a can’t miss low-risk player who has the third-highest points per $1k ratio tonight. His $5k salary is expected to net you 32.1 points.
Bet on Matchup
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