The Detroit Pistons are set for a critical contest Monday against the Indiana Pacers and they'll be playing for the second straight game without their star Blake Griffin due to left knee soreness, the league's injury report revealed Sunday. Griffin's knee is likely giving him significant discomfort for the team to not even leave the door open throughout the day Monday that he could take the court as they battle for a spot in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Thon Maker entered the starting five Saturday in place of Griffin, but replacing the team's leading scorer is likely to be more of a all-hands-on-deck job for Detroit. Center Andre Drummond will likely handle more rebounding duties, but the Pistons will have a difficult time recreating the myriad of skills that Griffin brings to the offensive end of the floor.

In many facets, it's been a career season for Griffin in 2018-19, his first full year with the Pistons. His 24.7 points per game are on pace to set a new career high, while also having knocked down 2.5 made triples per game, shooting 35.8 percent from behind the arc. Add that to his traditional metrics of 7.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists on a nightly basis and no one player is likely to fill in for what the Detroit All-Star brings to the table.

The schedule remains difficult for the Pistons after Monday, with another meeting versus Indiana scheduled for Wednesday. They close the year with games against three opponents not currently slotted into playoff seeds, but they'll likely need Griffin to return if they are to feel good about their own chances to still be playing in a few weeks.