Pelicans Injury Report vs. Pistons: Will Dejounte Murray & Trey Murphy Play?

The New Orleans Pelicans take on the Pistons in Detroit on Thursday after dropping back-to-back games to the Cavaliers and the Knicks. Despite putting up a good fight against both Eastern Conference contenders, the Pelicans came up short, losing both games in the fourth quarter. Now, they go up against another title contender to test themselves ahead of next season.

The Pels will have an injury advantage over the Pistons, who have an extensive list of absences. In addition to Cade Cunningham, who will miss extended time due to a collapsed lung, the Pistons will be without Caris LeVert and Isaiah Stewart on Thursday. Jalen Duren, Javonte Green, Ausar Thompson, Duncan Robinson, and Marcus Sasser, who popped up on the injury report earlier in the day, were upgraded to probable ahead of tipoff. Tobias Harris, on the other hand, is questionable to play with hip soreness.

Dejounte Murray Available, Trey Murphy Questionable vs. Pistons

Since the Pistons played an overtime game against the Hawks last night, this is hardly surprising. Detroit has a four-game lead over the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics, and can afford to take it lightly down the stretch. Resting a few veterans or keeping their minutes down on the second night of a back-to-back makes sense for a team with championship aspirations.

New Orleans is on the first night of a back-to-back and will travel to Toronto to face the Raptors on Friday. This has put Dejounte Murray's status in jeopardy as he has yet to play on back-to-back nights since recovering from the Achilles rupture. It turns out that Murray will suit up against the Pistons. Whether that means that he will play tomorrow night again remains to be seen.

Trey Murphy will be a game-time decision after he was listed as questionable with an ankle sprain. If he is unavailable, Yves Missi is the favorite to enter the starting lineup. Jordan Poole could find himself in the rotation in that scenario for the first time in a while.

Bryce McGowens will also miss his eighth straight game with a toe fracture. If Murphy is good to go, this means that the Pelicans will likely have a nine-man rotation, bringing Jeremiah Fears, Karlo Matkovic, Derik Queen, and Missi off the bench. This rotation, combined with the rest advantage over Detroit, should give the Pelicans a chance to pull off an upset against the 52-20 Pistons.