Kevin Huerter was listed as questionable for Game 6 against the Cleveland Cavaliers because of a thigh injury, putting another layer of uncertainty on a Detroit team that has already run out of margin for error. Caris LeVert was also questionable with a heel injury, and Duncan Robinson entered Friday night in the same status after missing Game 5 with lower back soreness.
Detroit lost Game 5, 117-113 in overtime, at home on Wednesday night and now faces the Cavaliers in Game 6 on Friday night at Rocket Arena. Before Game 5, Huerter and LeVert were both questionable and both played, but Huerter produced just one assist in three minutes while LeVert scored seven points off the bench in 24 minutes.
Daniss Jenkins supplied the sort of production Detroit needed more of, making his first career playoff start and finishing with 19 points, three assists and two rebounds while hitting two three-pointers. He was one of three other Detroit players to reach 24 points in the game, but the Pistons still could not finish the job in overtime.
The larger problem for Detroit is that it is now trailing the Cavaliers in the series and headed into an elimination game with several rotation questions still unresolved. Robinson had been one of the Pistons’ leading three-point scorers in the postseason, scoring in double figures three times in four games against Cleveland while shooting 57.7 percent from three-point range before he sat out Game 5. Huerter, by contrast, has barely played during Detroit’s postseason run, and his availability has not yet translated into much on-court impact.
That leaves Detroit waiting on the health report and hoping the pieces fit together fast enough to extend its season. The Pistons do not need a perfect night in Cleveland, but they do need a healthier one than the one they just played.
