The trade deadline awaits. The play-in tournament awaits. The playoffs await. And the buzz saw that is the Philadelphia 76ers looms large.

Both of these Eastern Conference squads are battling position in the playoffs, and absolutely no one wants to be the 7 or the 8. Beating Dame by himself is a task, let alone the squad that Philly has put together. Barring catastrophic injuries, you are simply just getting a playoff appearance and that is about it.

Detroit currently leads Washington by one game in the loss column at the time of this writing, neither team having played a game in week 14. On paper, Washington has the advantage in PF (+6) and PA (-1) for the season, but it is not a secret that Detroit has been mixing it up and is on the come up. New additions such as Vooch should help that PF average creep up slowly. Both teams also have similar records in their last ten, with Washington better by one game at 6-4.

It should be an evenly matched, close game. Which, we all know is something we do not get a lot of this year. Viva la overtime!

Without further delay and rambling, moving on to matchups!

PG

Kyrie Irving (WAS) vs. Ja Morant (DET)

Welcome back, Kyrie… and Ja. While a welcome sign to both GMs that their franchise PGs are back in the lineup, it’s bad timing for Ja Morant to think he’s going to steal the spotlight. While Morant’s 20 and 6 average on the season is very respectable and not to be laughed at, it is not Kyrie’s 33 and 5 line. Kyrie is having an MVP caliber season, and it shows game in and game out. There won’t be many PG matchups for Ja this year in which his competitor is better in literally every aspect of the game, but this is one of them.

Advantage: Washington.

SG

Evan Fournier (WAS) vs. Jordan Clarkson (DET)

NBA 6MOTY Jordan Clarkson is a pure flamethrower, that’s not news. Clarkson averages 16 a game in 21 minutes, and I believe Justin will give him the nod this week over R. J., but time will tell. On the other hand, Evan is also a scorer, just not quite at the same clip. To be fair, I’m not sure either of these guys can guard each other, but it’s going to come down to efficiency. Can Clarkson keep up his season averages with the splits he currently has? He’s going to have to if he wants to out efficiency Fournier, who is knocking down threes at an impressive 47% clip so far this season.

Advantage: Detroit.

SF:

Garrett Temple (WAS) vs. Tobias Harris (DET)

These starters are very presumptuous on my part, so take this with a grain of salt. If these are the guys, I think the clear winner here is Harris. However, the midseason pickup in Temple is no slouch. He has done exactly what Washington needs him to do, and that is fill a role and play defense. Props to the Washington front office for nabbing Temple in the midst of an unprecedented season in the NLL. Tobias’ jump in production since coming from Houston though, has been a huge lift for Detroit in the scoring department, jumping from 19 to 28 PPG. If the Pistons can all get on the court together, and stay together, they are going to be a dangerous team come the post season.

Advantage: Detroit.

PF:

Ben Simmons (WAS) vs. Nikola Vucevic (DET)

Again, presumptuous on my part but I feel a bit better about this one. Also, for this, we are looking at Ben’s production while at PF, not at PG. Nothing groundbreaking here, as his PPG dips from 20 to 13, but his boards increase by 2, and it’s a great fit with Kyrie at the 1. Vuc has a little better scoring average (by two points) at PF rather than C, and not much else changes. Now, if you are picking a player straight up, you probably pick Ben… and I wouldn’t blame you. As the SG matchup stated, I am not sure either of these guys can guard each other, but I think Vuc has the advantage just based on pure size. It’s not like Simmons can really step out and hit deep shots, so it shouldn’t affect Vuc too much. This is the key matchup in the game for me, honestly. If Vuc can dominate Simmons down low, the Pistons should come away with the win here.

Advantage: Detroit.

C:

Willie Cauley-Stein (WAS) vs. JaVale McGee (DET

Both of these guys are walking double-doubles, and both have almost identical stats. They are both the same *type* of player, with neither being deadline from outside and doing most if not all of their damage at the rim. When all else fails… go with the badges! McGee has the slight edge here, but ultimately both of these guys are going to cancel each other out I think, with McGee having a better day on the offensive glass.

Advantage: Detroit.

Bench:

Robert WIlilams, Aaron Holiday, JaeSean Tate (WAS) vs. RJ Barrett, D.J. Augustin, Naz Reid            

This of course is definitely subject to change, but that’s my best guess on the first three bench guys for each squad. Robert Williams gives Washington a huge lift on the boards, as Richaun Holmes is out for the Pistons this week. Aaron Holiday is likely to get outworked by the veteran the veteran Augustin, so that leaves RJ Barrett as they key here. Justin will not be shy about telling you how much disrespect 2K gives to Barrett, and he wouldn’t be wrong, he hasn’t been great since the engine change. However, he has been good, and I think that’s all the Pistons need here. I think Barrett’s athleticism will get the best of the Wizards bench guards, and possibly even Fournier if they find them selves guarding each other.

Advantage: Detroit.