The Pistons have listed guard/forwards Duncan Robinson (low back soreness), Caris LeVert (right heel contustion) and Kevin Huerter (left adductor strain) as questionable for Friday’s Game 6 in Cleveland, tweets Hunter Patterson of The Athletic.
Detroit is facing playoff elimination on Friday. After winning the first two games of the second-round series against the Cavs, the Pistons have dropped three straight contests and will have to win on the road to save their season.
Robinson was outstanding in the first three games of the Eastern Conference semifinals, making at least four three-pointers in each contest while averaging 17.0 points, 3.3 steals, 3.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds in 33.7 minutes. He converted 58.3% of his three-point looks in those games.
The 32-year-old tried to play through his lower back issue in Game 4, but he was clearly hampered, recording as many fouls (four) as points and only attempting two shots in 29 minutes. The Pistons were outscored by 19 when he was on the court, compared to a positive plus-minus mark in each of the first three games.
The Pistons certainly could’ve used a healthy Robinson in Game 5, which they lost in overtime after blowing a late lead in regulation.
Despite dealing with an injury of his own, LeVert’s minutes have increased the past two games with Robinson either less than 100% or out of the lineup.
As for Huerter, he returned to action in Wednesday’s Game 5 after missing a little over two weeks with the adductor strain. He suffered that injury in Game 4 of Detroit’s first-round matchup vs. Orlando.
Big win by Cavs. They almost gave it away. Have to end this next game. Let’s go Cavs.