Pacers vs. Pistons Monday NBA injury report, odds: Detroit can join exclusive club with 20th straight loss; could be letdown game for Indiana

Only 13 times in NBA history has a franchise endured a losing streak of at least 20 games, and that number will grow to 14 Monday night if the Detroit Pistons lose at home to the Indiana Pacers, who are -7.5 on the SportsLine consensus. This could be a massive letdown game for the Pacers, though, after reaching the championship game of the In-Season Tournament on Saturday night in Las Vegas and losing to the Lakers.

Detroit's 19-game losing streak is the longest in a single season in franchise history, with the all-time mark at 21 overall from March 3 through Oct. 22, 1980. Thus, the Pistons are poised to join the Philadelphia 76ers (who hold the all-time mark of 28 losses in a row) and Cleveland Cavaliers as the only franchises to have multiple 20-game skids. The Sixers have three of them.

Coach Monty Williams' Pistons didn't put up much of a fight last Friday in Orlando, losing 123-91 to drop Detroit to 6-13 against the spread during this 19-game skid with 10 double-digit losses. Starting center Jalen Duren (12.6 points per game, 10.9 rebounds per game) missed that outing with an ankle injury suffered last Friday and won't play at all this week. Former No. 2 overall pick Marvin Bagley moved back into the starting lineup Friday due to Duren being sidelined, but Bagley left early with back spasms and is doubtful for Monday. He leads all qualified players on the team with a 111.9 offensive rating and is second with a .575 field-goal percentage.

It would be human nature for the Pacers to be a bit flat here after their exciting run to the In-Season Tournament title game, a 123-109 loss to the Lakers, especially with the quick turnaround. If Indiana were playing anyone else but Detroit, I'd probably pick an outright upset. You could almost see how gassed the Pacers were on Saturday with their second-worst point total of the season. That was the lone tournament game that didn't count toward the regular season. Indiana went 6-0 over its run to the championship. It averaged 132.7 PPG on 51.1% shooting while outscoring opponents by 9.7 points per game during its run.

Indiana is a bit thin right now with forward Jalen Smith (10.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG) and guard Andrew Nembhard (7.0 PPG, 4.1 assists per game) both out. Smith hasn't played in a couple of weeks, while Nembhard missed Saturday with a knee issue and probably sits this week. Forward Aaron Nesmith (11.0 PPG) is questionable.

The Pacers won the first meeting of the season 136-113 at home vs. the Pistons on Nov. 24. Tyrese Haliburton had 26 points and 10 assists and has recorded three straight double-doubles against Detroit, averaging 23.0 points and 12.3 assists in that span. He is set at over/under 40.5 points + assists tonight. Pistons star Cade Cunningham has averaged 21.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.4 assists in five career games against Indiana and is set at O/U 35.5 P/R/A tonight.

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