When the Detroit Pistons come to town Friday night, the Houston Rockets open their final homestand of the 2022-23 season with a matchup against the only NBA team with a worse record. It’s the first of three straight games at Toyota Center, with subsequent games Sunday versus the Lakers and Tuesday against the Nuggets.
The favorable matchup, however, may present a conundrum. While Houston has secured maximum 2023 draft lottery odds for a top-four pick, finishing with the NBA’s worst record ensures their first-round pick can fall no further than No. 5 overall. If it finishes with the second-worst record, it can drop to No. 6, and so on and so forth.
Detroit already has two fewer victories than Houston and six games left. Should Houston win Friday and increase that advantage to three games with only five left to play, it’s extremely difficult to imagine Detroit eliminating that gap.
On the other hand, while the Pistons aren’t good, they seem to be playing hard. Detroit lost by a single point at Oklahoma City on Wednesday following a single-digit loss at Milwaukee, a legitimate title contender, two nights earlier. The Rockets, meanwhile, are on a seven-game losing streak, and their last four defeats have come by an average margin of more than 21 points per game.
When and How to Watch
- Date: Friday, March 31
- Time: 7 p.m. Central
- TV Channel: AT&T SportsNet Southwest, NBA League Pass
- Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free in Houston markets)
Probable starting lineups
Houston Rockets (18-59)
- Guard: Kevin Porter Jr.
- Guard: Jalen Green
- Forward: KJ Martin
- Forward: Jabari Smith Jr.
- Center: Alperen Sengun
Detroit Pistons (16-60)
- Guard: Jaden Ivey
- Guard: Killian Hayes
- Forward: Isaiah Livers
- Forward: Marvin Bagley III
- Center: James Wiseman
Projected lineups are based on each team’s previous game.
Injury reports
Houston’s injury report lists Jae’Sean Tate (left knee soreness) as out and KJ Martin (left hip flexor strain) as questionable. For Detroit, Bojan Bogdanovic (left Achilles tendinopathy), Alec Burks (left foot soreness), Cade Cunningham (left tibia stress fracture), Hamidou Diallo (right ankle sprain), Rodney McGruder (right foot sprain), and Isaiah Stewart (left shoulder impingement) are out.
