December 26, 2023 at 4:00 pm CST by Luke Adams
With the Pistons Looking to avoid becoming the first team in NBA history to ever lose 27 straight games in a single season, I'm starting at center Jalen Duren appears to be close to returning after eight games he was absent with a sprained left ankle. It's likely he will play against Brooklyn on Tuesday. Tweets James L. Edwards of The Athletic.
While no Pistons player has posted particularly flattering numbers on and off the field this season, the team has played better with Duren's availability. Detroit's net rating in the big man's 404 minutes this season is -7.9; In the 988 minutes the team has been on the field without him, the net rating drops to just -12.8.
Here are a few more injury-related updates ahead of Tuesday's games:
- The jazz will add a few guards back into his rotation on Tuesday as both Keyonte George (inflammation of the left foot) and Talen Horton Tucker (left foot inflammation) have been upgraded from questionable to available, Tweets Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune. George has missed Utah's last six games, while Horton-Tucker has been unavailable for the last two games.
- The wizard According to Josh Robbins of The Athletic, no injuries were reported for Tuesday's game against Orlando (via Twitter), which means veteran guard Delon Wright should be available for the first time since spraining his left knee on November 10th.
- Kings center Alex Lenwho last played on Nov. 13, has been upgraded to available and cleared to return from a right ankle sprain, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link). It's unclear whether Len will even play in Portland on Tuesday, as he had logged just 41 minutes in six appearances before the injury.
- Pacemaker wing Bruce Brown was ruled out of Tuesday's game in Houston due to a bone bruise in his right knee (Twitter link via Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files). It's the second straight game missed for Brown after appearing in each of Indiana's first 27 contests this season.