As if playing without Reggie Jackson isn’t enough of a headache, the Detroit Pistons now have Andre Drummond’s ankle to worry about.
It was announced last minute that the 23-year-old seven-footer wouldn’t be facing off against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night. He has a sprained ankle that is serious enough to keep him off the court, but not so serious that the Pistons should be scared, per Mass Live’s Aaron McMann:
MRI, X-rays negative on Drummond. Day to day, but he's not playing tonight for #Pistons.
— Aaron McMann (@AaronMcMann) November 14, 2016
Well, that’s good news for the Pistons. They also laid down a 16-point shellacking on the Thunder without Drummond. That’s good news, too.
Still, they won’t want be without their big man for too long. Though their fourth-ranked defense actually allows fewer points per 100 possessions with him on the bench, he is one of the Pistons’ lone means of creating space in Jackson’s absence. The double-teams he draws in the post and when slashing toward the basket generate open shots and maneuverable lanes for Tobias Harris, Marcus Morris and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
That makes Drummond an offensive necessity for a Detroit team that’s been mostly inefficient on that side of the ball. And who knows, once his ankle is healed up, maybe his efforts on defense won’t fluctuate as wildly, either.
