The last time the Detroit Pistons and Oklahoma City Thunder faced off, the Thunder were severely shorthanded.
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The Thunder were without four of their starters — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein — plus key bench player Alex Caruso.
Heading into Monday night’s matchup between the top team in the Eastern Conference and the top team in the West in Oklahoma City, it’s the Pistons who could be without much of their normal lineup.
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Cade Cunningham remains out for the game after suffering a collapsed lung, and Isaiah Stewart is out with a left calf while Ausar Thompson is listed as questionable for right-ankle injury management, and Jalen Duren, Tobias Harris and Duncan Robinson all doubtful for the matchup due to injury management.
Duren, Harris, Robinson and Thompson all played in Saturday in a 109-87 road win against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
But as the Thunder proved in the first meeting, being severely shorthanded doesn’t always lead to a runaway victory the other way.
Oklahoma City pushed Detroit until late in that Feb. 25 matchup before the Pistons came out with a 124-116 victory.
Against Minnesota, seven different Pistons scored 10 or more points.
“That’s when we’re at our best, when we diversify the offense,” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Everybody gets an opportunity to touch it, share it, be a part of it.”
That approach has become even more important without Cunningham, who looked like a Most Valuable Player contender before his most recent injury made it unlikely he’ll reach the 65-game threshold needed to be considered for the award.
The Pistons are 5-1 during this recent stretch without Cunningham and 10-3 overall when the star guard is out of the lineup this season.
Detroit (54-20) comes into the game four games up on the Boston Celtics for the top spot in the Eastern Conference with eight games remaining.
Oklahoma City (59-16) comes into the game 2 1/2 games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs for the top spot in the Western Conference and with Detroit the only other team with a chance to catch them for the No. 1 overall seed.
A victory would give the Thunder back-to-back 60-win seasons for the first time in franchise history.
Oklahoma City has won 14 of its last 15 games since that late-February loss to the Pistons as it has finally gotten healthy after a string of injuries throughout the season.
The Monday game will be the second night of a back-to-back for the Thunder, who beat the New York Knicks 111-100 at home on Sunday.
If Williams plays, it would be his first back-to-back since early January, though he’s missed extended time twice during that stretch with hamstring injuries.
Against the Knicks, Williams played nearly 29 minutes, his most since Jan. 15.
He also scored 22 points, his most in his four games since returning from his prolonged absence last Monday.
“Just getting my feet under me, getting more and more comfortable playing again,” Williams said. “… I’ve been able to play pretty close to, like, my normal stretch.”
Though Oklahoma City was able to stay atop the West without Williams, Gilgeous-Alexander said his return has had a big impact.
“Dub is such a big part of why we won last year,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of the defending NBA champions. “We have no choice but to trust him, no choice but to put the ball in his hands.”
