You’d think a matchup with the best and the worst teams in the East should be easy pickings. It might be for the Detroit Pistons, but the Indiana Pacers are playing much better basketball over the last two weeks. This will be Detroit’s fifth home game in a row as they are 4.5 games in front of the second-seed Boston Celtics (we’ll see them Monday, I did not think they’d be here in the standings in October).  Boston and Detroit have been a back-and-forth matchup this season, but Detroit shouldn’t overlook the fiery Pacers. Their record doesn’t show it, but the Pacers are similar to those handsy Phoenix Suns in how they go for it every possession.  Game Vitals When: 7:30 p.m. ET Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan How: Fan Duel Sports Network Detroit Odds: Pistons -12.5 Analysis The Indiana Pacers are the 30th-ranked offense and 20th-ranked defense for the season. Not great to say the least. Over the last seven games, the Pacers are 12th in both and have a plus-2.5 net rating, good for 11th in the NBA. It’s no surprise the team that made the Finals last year is in this spot after losing Tyrese Haliburton, paired with all the nagging injuries this year, but even as the L’s pile up, Indiana has the personnel to turn it up on a given night. I thought we’d get more from Andrew Nembhard overall this year, but he did torch the Miami Heat for nearly 30 points a few nights ago. Pascal Siakam plays hard regardless of the circumstance and remains an underrated ball player.  Go down the line, and you’ll see plenty of hard hat players in Indy: T. J. McConnell, Johnny Furphy, Aaron Nesmith, etc. The Pacers get their hands on offensive loose balls and lock down the 3-point line. They allow tons of shots at the rim, and that’s one area Detroit can bust this game wide open.  While Indiana allows the fifth most shots at the rim, Detroit takes 36.6 percent of its shots at the basket (3rd). Detroit has streaky finishers, but they punish you with volume at the rim. Not to mention they burn teams in transition, juicing their points in the paint. Jay Huff is an athletic, lengthy, disruptive rim protector, but Indiana loses all of that when he goes to the bench — it should be a field day for Pistons drivers. Cade Cunningham leads the charge as a driver and overall. The Suns made it a priority to slow him down, but Cade still impacted the game as a passing savant. Phoenix could not contain Jaden Ivey in limited minutes. He scored 15 points, burying three triples while sporting a 93.8 true shooting percentage in only 17 minutes. That was a scoring explosion, yet he only played that little in a game where Detroit desperately needed baskets.  Tobias Harris was a huge factor in that win and will be moving forward. He’s still a post-up possession ender who’s making the most of his opportunities. Harris is third in the league in post-up PPP (1.32). He’s been special on the block. That skill set could be put to use even more if he were the first option coming off the bench with Isaiah Stewart starting. That change may not happen now, but I’d keep my eyes glued to that situation because it could be beneficial for all parties involved.  It’s another home game for Detroit, and they look to keep their foot on the gas and deliver a good offensive performance. Indiana isnt great, but bad teams get up for elite teams every night. Handle business here and get ready for a top-of-the-conference showdown on Martin Luther King Day.  Lineups Detroit Pistons: (29-10) Cade Cunningham (probable), Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson (probable), Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren  Indiana Pacers: (10-32) Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Johnny Furphy, Pascal Siakam, Jay Huff Question of the day If you could add one Detroit Pistons player from the past to this roster, who ya got?  ...read more read less