You have to win the gimmie games in the NBA, and the Detroit Pistons lost their third game to a team that has its eyes on Cooper Flagg or Dylan Harper. Add the Utah Jazz’s loss to the same boat as the Charlotte Hornets’ crushing defeats.

Detroit needed to stop the now 6-20 Jazz with their next four games on a West Coast road trip against three playoff teams and a dangerous Sacramento Kings team.

The road trip begins Saturday in the Valley against the Phoenix Suns without Devin Booker. The Suns are still a worthy opponent even without their eventual all-time leading scorer, as they have another weapon that is even better than Book.

Game Vitalities

When: 9:00 p.m. ET

Where: Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona

Regard: FanDuel Sports Network Detroit

Opportunities: Piston +6

analysis

The Pistons will be without Isaiah Stewart for the second straight game with a hyperextended knee. Devin Booker misses his first game of the year, but the Suns are better suited to survive if Book is out than the Pistons are if Stew is out.

In addition to Book, the Suns happen to have a four-time scoring champion in Kevin Durant. Durant is still the driving force of this Suns team at 36 years old. The Suns are 13-3 with KD in the lineup and 1-9 without him. That’s the 7-foot sharpshooter’s MVP value.

Without stew the pistons don’t hold up as well. The Jazz’s hot start largely came from the perimeter and 3s, but having Stew out there could have given Detroit some momentum by making the shooters stronger and bringing infectious energy. Jalen Duren and Stew’s minutes are nearly identical (21 minutes to 24), so you’ll be missing half of your center punch if Stew is out.

Jaden Ivey is likely to return after being sidelined in the Jazz game. His performance was missed as Cade Cunningham was left as the lone ball-handler on Thursday night.

The Suns will be with one of their ball handlers, Bradley Beal. He missed two straight games due to knee swelling before returning against the Pacers. Beal keeps his head down, not bothered by the trade talks surrounding his name.

We’ll probably get some minutes from Ausar Thompson in KD, and it will be fun if Ausar stays out of foul trouble. Some of these fouls come with his aggressiveness – part of it is because the referees don’t yet respect his tenacity. Tony Allen was not called for a Stonewall foul, as is currently the case with Ausar. He will earn this reputation.

The Suns are allowing 39% of their opponent’s shots from three, giving Ivey, Cunningham, Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Tobias Harris plenty of opportunities to strike (though not from the corners). Ron Holland, who showed Detroit the fight on Thursday, will have the opportunity to shoot or take advantage of the space he is given.

Harris won’t have the same spot, but will have to pick it up. He averaged 10 points on 46 TS% over the last three games. The Suns aren’t your typical game where you get into a rhythm, but playing against a player as big as Durant should highlight your competitive spirit.

I know Cade will show up then. During his rookie year, Cunningham had a classic duel with Durant, dropping 34 to KD’s 41. Cade adjusted his throws and went right at him.

Cade has been elite most of the time in Durant, but his teams have yet to win. He wants to break that 0-5 streak and start this road trip with a bang against a team trying to stay afloat in a 12-team Western Conference.

Planned lineups

Detroit (11-17)

Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Tim Hardaway Jr., Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren

Phoenix (14-12)

Tyus Jones, Bradley Beal, Royce O’Neal, Kevin Durant, Jusuf Nurkic

Question of the day:

How excited are you about the 9:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. start times for the next four games?