2 min read • March 17, 2022
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The Magic enter Thursday’s matchup playing some of their best basketball this season, winning 5 of their last 5 while enjoying the presence of Markelle Fultz.
Fultz returned from a torn ACL on Feb. 28 and has played 7 games, averaging 9.3 points and 5.1 assists on 48.1% shooting.
Rookie guard Jalen Suggs will miss the game with an ankle injury while forward Chuma Okeke and center Wendell Carter Jr. are questionable after sustaining injuries in Tuesday’s loss to the Nets. The addition of Fultz will ease the loss of Suggs
If either of the big men sit, Mo Bamba and Mo Wagner will be asked to shoulder the interior scoring load, and will have ample opportunities running pick-and-rolls with Fultz and Cole Anthony.
The Pistons have lost 4 in a row, and will be without 2 of their 5 leading scorers against the Magic in Jerami Grant and Hamidou Diallo.
Diallo will miss his 4th straight contest with a sprained left index finger, and the Pistons have managed only 101 points per game in the 3 games he’s been out.
Cade Cunningham also missed the last game with an illness, but he has been upgraded to questionable. Even if he plays, however, the matchup with the Magic has been one of his worst in his short career: in 3 games, Cunningham is averaging 7.3 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.7 assists on 17.9% shooting, going 0-15 from 3.
Reserve point guard Frank Jackson is out with a back issue, and guard Rodney McGruder is questionable with a hamstring injury.
Potentail Plays:
U219 Total Points - Both teams struggle to score and should do so tonight, expect a low scoring affair
Corey Joseph O9.5 Points - With the guard depth heavily injured in Detriot, the veteran guard should play heavy minutes and get into double digits points wise
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