While the Detroit Pistons have had a healthy starting five in place lately, a key member of their bench unit has been dealing with a notable injury concern.

When the Pistons faced the Miami Heat last week, the veteran center Isaiah Stewart was injured just seven minutes into his shift off the bench. He left the court with four points and three rebounds.

After getting evaluated back in the locker room, Stewart did not get clearance to return to help the Pistons close out the matchup against the Heat.

Since then, Stewart has been out. Will the trend continue on Thursday night against the Sacramento Kings?

Unfortunately, for Detroit, that will be the case. Stewart has been downgraded to out for Thursday’s game.

After going out against Miami, Stewart was not part of the action when the Pistons hosted the Utah Jazz the following game. On a positive note, Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff mentioned that Stewart’s recovery would not require a long timeline. He was viewed as day-to-day.

When the Pistons traveled to take on the Phoenix Suns, Stewart hit the road with the team. He was seen putting in work following a shootaround session. Although Stewart didn’t play, the Pistons found success against the Suns with an eight-point win.

Nothing changed earlier this week when the Pistons paid a visit to the Los Angeles Lakers. Stewart was ruled out, but the Pistons did well enough to win without him. After getting a couple of days off following the win over the Lakers, Stewart was upgraded on the injury report to questionable.

While it’s a positive sign he seems to be making progress, Stewart is still not ready to return.

The Pistons and the Kings are set to tip at 10 PM ET.

The Detroit Red Wings announced the inevitable with the firing of head coach Derek Lalonde. The team showed life at the start of his tenure and even improved to 41 wins last season. But this year was a noticeable plateau under Lalonde, and Detroit made the only call they could.

In Lalonde’s place, the Red Wings hired Todd McLellan. The former San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers, and Los Angeles Kings coach has over 15 years of NHL head coaching experience, and Detroit is hoping he can bring the team back to the postseason. It’s a gamble worth taking for the Red Wings organization, but the outcome won’t change as long as the roster construction remains the same.

McLellan is a good coach. He’s certainly an improvement over Lalonde, bringing more career wins and nine playoff appearances across three organizations, but he’s a band-aid. The wound in the Red Wings organization runs much deeper than who is behind the bench, and McLellan will be the next bench boss to fall victim to the lack of talent in Detroit

The Red Wings haven’t made the postseason since the 2015-2016 campaign. Long gone is the 30 year stretch where they were basically a perennial playoff team, capturing four Stanley Cups since 1996. The organization has been attempting to rebuild that dynasty for the last decade, with repeated failures along the way.

The current attempt to build the right core is another one of those missteps. They have good players. Captain Dylan Larkin will be a member of the United States roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off and is a talented point producer. Lucas Raymond continues to improve and become the team’s best offensive player. Alex DeBrincat has speed and scoring capabilities. Top defensemen Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson give them quality minutes every night.

Beyond them, though, the roster is so far from a playoff one, let alone a championship one. They lack depth across every position and they’ve consistently failed with their analysis of goaltenders. For several seasons now, the organization has been banking on their overflow of young prospects breaking through to the NHL, but it’s still a waiting game.

That won’t help McLellan take this middling team to the postseason. He has some weapons to work with and his arrival is sure to reinvigorate the Red Wings players. It ultimately won’t matter though. It won’t change the outcome this year or next year or even the year after until their NHL lineup improves drastically.

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College football’s annual bowl game visit to Detroit has a new name. This year, the Pittsburgh Panthers (7-5) meet the Toledo Rockets (7-5) in the 2024 GameAbove Sports Bowl at Ford Field, home to the Detroit Lions.

The Panthers lost five in a row in the ACC to close the regular season after beginning 7-0.

The Rockets were a MAC contender before losing their final two games of the regular season.

The GameAbove Bowl takes the name from what used to be the Quick Lane Bowl, won last year by Minnesota, 30-24, over Bowling Green.

Here’s the game info on Pitt vs. Toledo in the bowl game in Detroit:

Pittsburgh vs Toledo GameAbove Sports Bowl TV channel, start time 

• TV channel: ESPN.
• Date: Thursday, Dec 26.
• Start time: 2 p.m. ET.
• Where: Ford Field, Detroit.
• Streaming: ESPN+ or Fubo (free trial).

What are the bowl games today?

There are three bowl games today, Thursday, Dec. 26.

• Pitt vs Toledo (GameAbove Sports Bowl): 2 p.m., ESPN
• Rutgers vs Kansas State (Rate Sports Bowl): 5:30 p.m., ESPN
• Arkansas State vs Bowling Green (68 Ventures Bowl): 9 p.m., ESPN 

Watch today’s bowl games on Fubo (free trial)

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