The Pistons are headed to Philadelphia to take on the 76ers, who have not very surprisingly had a very hard year. The Pistons, before the Jennings injury and after Smith had been released, had done much better. They had beaten the Cavaliers to start what had been their best stretch of the season in what seems like ages for Piston fans, while Philadelphia has not been so lucky.
The last time they were arguably a yearly contender was when Allen Iverson and Samuel Dalembert played for the squad in their primes. That was when the Pistons had Chauncey Billups the first time, Rasheed and Ben Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, and Richard (Rip) Hamilton in their primes as well. This is still a rivalry game, as it should be between these two division rivals but instead of fighting for a playoff spot, they are fighting for bragging rights, or in Philadelphia's case, what seems to be who can have the better draft pick come summer.
The last time these two teams met was not that long ago, when the Pistons bested the 76ers in a 107-89 contest on January 17th. The Pistons outscored Philadelphia in every quarter except the fourth, when Philly had one more point than the Pistons, as well as a tie in the third quarter. That, of course, was when the Pistons had someone by the name of Brandon Jennings. They still have him, he hasn't been traded, but he is now on the season-ending injured reserve as a result of a ruptured left Achilles' tendon that took place in Milwaukee last week.
The 76ers have not been lucky with injuries either. Michael Carter-Williams, the team's starting point guard, is questionable to play in this one, while the team's leading scorer Tony Wroten is out long term with a partially torn right ACL. The 76ers also chose to stay in New Orleans for an extra day due to winter storm Juno practically shutting down the whole East coast of the United States, so they do not have the full advantage of being the home team like they would in a normal situation.
The Pistons' last game was a loss to the high-scoring Cleveland Cavaliers by eight, and the game before that, their first full game without Brandon Jennings, they lost by four to another high-scoring team, the Toronto Raptors. The Pistons do seem to have the advantage going into the matchup, especially with Philadelphia who is already not the most talented team in the league missing its best player, as well as potentially its arguably second best player both due to injury. Expect a fun, action packed, heated rivalry game, just don't expect this to be very close, especially if Michael Carter-Williams doesn't play.