Game Preview: Suns head to Ishbia’s alma mater to play the Pistons

It may be 1,943 miles from the Footprint Center, but for Mat Ishbia, it feels like home.

Who: Phoenix Suns (1-0) vs. Detroit Pistons (1-0)

When: 4:00pm AZ Time

Where: Breslin Center, East Lansing, Michigan

Watch: Arizona’s Family 3TV / Arizona’s Family Sports

Listen: KMVP 98.7

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Following their 118-114 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Palm Desert on Sunday, the Phoenix Suns head to the Midwest to face the Detroit Pistons at Michigan State, the alma mater of Suns’ owner Mat Ishbia. It’s been 22 years, 6 months, and 23 days since Ishbia last played college ball there, making this a uniquely special moment for him. This time, he returns to the court not as a player, but as the owner of an NBA team.

Despite their differences, the Suns and Pistons enter this season with one thing in common: new head coaches who bring fresh visions for their teams. We saw this firsthand on Sunday, as the Phoenix Suns, long expected to shoot more threes under Monty Williams and Frank Vogel, finally did so under Mike Budenholzer.

On the other side, the Pistons are coming off a dominant 120-87 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in their preseason opener under new head coach JB Bickerstaff. Interestingly, Monty Williams lasted just one season in Detroit and is now enjoying a rare situation: getting paid by both the Suns and Pistons while taking a break from coaching.

Probable Starters

Injury Report

Suns

• Jusuf Nurkic — OUT (Finger)
• Grayson Allen — OUT (Personal)

Pistons

• Ausur Thompson — DAY TO DAY (Illness)
• Bobi Klintman — DAY TO DAY (Right Calf Contusion)
• Tobias Harris — DAY TO DAY (Illness)

What to Watch For

There are a few key things to keep an eye on in this game.

First, we’ll be looking for a continuation of the positive momentum from the previous matchup. With Jusuf Nurkic sidelined due to a finger injury, Oso Ighodaro should see increased playing time. While it’s unlikely there’s much film on him yet — and I doubt the Pistons are doing deep scouting based on just one performance — it’ll be interesting to see how Oso adjusts now that NBA defenses have a better sense of his game.

The same goes for Ryan Dunn. We’re eager to see how both rookies handle themselves, how they adapt, and how they respond under a little more defensive pressure.

What I’ll be focusing on is the Suns’ first-team defense. After the last game, Mike Budenholzer mentioned that their defense wasn’t where it needed to be, so it’ll be interesting to see how they respond.

“Defensively, we weren’t where we need to be,” Bud said after the game on Monday. “Lotta points. Lotta points in the paint. That’s what the preseason’s for. To look at it, find ways where we can be better defensively. Our ability to take care of the paint..stands out to me.”

In the first half against the Lakers, the Suns were outrebounded 29 to 22, with Anthony Davis pulling down 8 boards in just over 17 minutes. Striking the right balance between three-point shooting and effective rebounding is something we’ll need to keep an eye on throughout the season, and it’ll be a key focus again tonight.

The Pistons were 16th in rebounding a season ago, led by the 11.6 of Jalen Duren. With no Nurk tonight, seeing how Mason Plumlee and Oso Ighodaro handle Duren on the glass will be of note.

Key to a Suns Win

It’s not necessarily about getting a win tonight. What we’re really looking for is continuity, strong communication, a better grasp of the system, and productive minutes from the depth players. It was those depth players who stepped up in game one and helped secure the victory, and that will need to be the key again if the Suns are to leave East Lansing with a win. The bench needs to replicate the impact they had in the first game.

Prediction

I feel like a gauntlet has been laid down. Did you see Brandon’s prediction prior to the Suns vs. Lakers game? He had Phoenix winning 118-113! He was one point off!

I feel like I need to do some long division, add some multiplication while subtracting human error. Let me plug all of this into the ‘ole Voita Predictor 3000…

Suns 121, Pistons 117