Rhona Wise-Imagn Images We have all been eagerly awaiting the start of what was formally known as the In-Season Tournament. The Pistons and Heat play a regular season basketball game, but it is also group play for the newly-named Emirates NBA Cup. Not only are we no longer calling it the “In-Season Tournament,” but we have also gotten a sponsor for it. The Pistons seem to be in a weaker group than they were last season, so they actually have an opportunity to maybe win a game or two. It all starts with this very winnable game against a Miami Heat team missing Jimmy Butler. The Pistons have won three of their last five games and the two losses during that stretch were by a combined three points, so the Pistons are playing the best basketball they can be playing right now. The Heat are coming off a 95-94 win over the Timberwolves, but lost the three games before that. They are playing as good as they can be without Jimmy Butler, but are definitely vulnerable. Game Vitals Where: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MIWhen: Tuesday, November 12 at 7 pm ESTWatch: Fan Duel Sports Network DetroitOdds: Heat (-1.5) Analysis I am a bit surprised to see the Heat favored in this game. I know the Pistons haven’t done a ton to earn the good graces of betting lines by being favored over a team like the Heat, but the Heat will be without Jimmy Butler and the Pistons already played a close game with them on the road earlier this season. Jimmy Butler is not as good as he once was, but he is still the heart and soul of this Heat team and without him they are pretty much just a team in the same tier as the Pistons this season. Last year, that would have been an offensive thing to type out, but I think the Pistons have at least earned a little bit of respect with their play this season. Without Butler, the Heat will rely heavily on Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo to carry the scoring load. They already do rely a lot on those two, they will just be getting more touches now. You also have to worry about Piston-killer Terry Rozier. He has not been as good with the Heat as he was in Charlotte, but Scary Terry seemingly always finds a way to have his best games against the Pistons. Outside of those three, the Heat don’t really have a ton of other players that are striking fear into the opposition. They bring Jaime Jacquez, Duncan Robinson, and Nikola Jovic off the bench and all three players are susceptible to getting hot from beyond the arc. But, I don’t think they have the potential to torch you off the bench like the Pistons just experienced against the Rockets on Sunday with Amen Thompson and Tari Eason. For the Pistons, they did get good news with the clearance of Ausar Thompson to return to play, but he is still probably a couple weeks away from playing regular minutes in the NBA since he has gone about 8 months without any 5 on 5 work. So, I would not expect him to play in this game. That means we are looking at the usual rotation for the Pistons, unless Jalen Duren is healthy enough to play with his ankle injury. If he does play, he will take Isaiah Stewart’s spot in the starting lineup and Paul Reed will move back to his 3rd big man role. This game could get ugly as the Pistons have not been great on offense this season and are mostly winning with defense. That is a play style the Miami Heat know well, so we could be looking at a low-scoring game if both teams struggle offensively. As I said above, this is a winnable game. I would even be saying that if Jimmy Butler was healthy, but the fact that he isn’t makes the task a bit easier. The Pistons are going to need more offensively than they have given during this small hot streak, but if they defend how they have been defending they have a shot against anybody. Just hit a few more threes and keep up the effort defensively and the Pistons could very well start group play 1-0. I don’t think it is shocking if you have been following this team, but the Pistons did not win any games during group play of the In-Season Tournament last year, so this is their first shot at a win. Lineups Detroit Pistons (4-7): Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Tim Hardaway Jr, Tobias Harris, Isaiah Stewart Miami Heat (4-5): Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro, Haywood Highsmith, Kevin Love, Bam Adebayo Question of the Day Do you like having an In-Season Tournament or does it not really do anything for you?