Los Angeles Lakers: 3 games to watch post-All-Star break
2. Los Angeles Lakers @ Detroit Pistons (March 26)
They’ve stumbled of late by losing four of their last five games, but the Detroit Pistons have been the main team I’ve watched since acquiring Blake Griffin from the Los Angeles Clippers. They started out great, winning their first four games with Griffin in the lineup, which may have been a small sample size, but the two big man dynamic is so unique in today’s NBA I can’t stop watching.
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Griffin is used to playing next to a more traditional center during his Clippers days next to DeAndre Jordan, so seeing him paired with a more skilled big in Andre Drummond has been fun to watch. Griffin now has a frontcourt partner that can go to work in the post and pass well for a man of his size.
With everyone going small, the Pistons are experimenting with two talented bigs surrounded by guards and wings that space the floor. The results so far are inconsistent, but it’s early to see how things will turn out. I’d wait and see how they play together next season with a training camp together and a roster that should be tailored to their new tandem more.
These two present the Lakers an opportunity to play their two big lineups, and Brook Lopez in particular, as much as they want. Lopez isn’t used nearly as much as he was during his time with the Brooklyn Nets, but he can stay on the court in this game if the Pistons don’t push the ball in transition.
The Griffin-Julius Randle matchups were always physical in LA, and it’ll be interesting to see how Griffin matches up with Kyle Kuzma when the Lakers insert him into the game.