Detroit Pistons: 5 goals following 2019 NBA All-Star break

2. Keep Blake Griffin healthy

The biggest question mark for Griffin going into this season was his health. Each of his previous four seasons — three and a half with the Los Angeles Clippers and a half-season in Detroit — were shortened by significant injuries.

Griffin has quieted those doubts by being a virtual iron man. He has only missed two of Detroit’s first 56 games, and both of those were planned days of rest. Jackson is the only member of the team who has played more games than Griffin.

Griffin leads the Pistons in minutes and is tied for fourth in the NBA at 36.3 minutes per game.

So can he keep this up?

The pessimist (or the gambler) would say that an injury has to be right around the corner for Griffin, and that injury could sink Detroit’s season depending on how long he’s sidelined.

Griffin is the team’s MVP, leading the Pistons with 26.3 points and 5.4 assists per game. He’s also pulling down 8.1 rebounds per game and his 134 made 3-pointers are the most on the team.

Casey should look for opportunities to limit Griffin’s workload over the next two months. That is of course a complicated matter, as the team needs him for heavy minutes every night, but the Pistons can’t afford to lose him for an extended stretch of games.