Central Notes: Pistons, Bulls, Cavs

Pistons

Two-way forward Chris Smith has undergone ACL surgery on his left knee, the team announced. 

Smith was playing for the Motor City Cruise when the injury occurred on March 8. The Cruise are the Pistons’ G League affiliate. He will begin rehab immediately and be out indefinitely.

Smith went undrafted out of UCLA and signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Pistons in August. His debut was delayed because he tore his ACL — and has know suffered a torn ACL in that same knee.

The Pistons could waive him to audition another two-way player to finish out the season, but that scenario is pure speculation at this point.

Smith appeared in 18 games with the Cruise, averaging 8.7 points and 5.3 rebounds.

Bulls

Coach Billy Donovan said he has been more pleased with the way the ball has moved lately, perhaps a reason the Bulls have won two of three to shake off a slump.

“I thought our ball movement today was really good,” he said after Chicago beat the Wizards on Tuesday. “I thought we generated good shots.”

The Bulls enter Wednesday in fifth place in the East, one game ahead of the Raptors and 1.5 ahead of the Cavs. They own the tiebreaker against both.

• Despite some trade whispers, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic are both likely to be members of the Bulls again next season, wrote K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.

Cavaliers

• While the Cavs are clearly missing the injured Jarrett Allen, and now the injured Evan Mobley, they are still second in the Eastern Conference in team defense, allowing only 104.6 points while holding opponents to 45.1% shooting.
• Mobley is averaging 15.7 points and 8.3 rebounds while shooting 54.0% over the past 10 games. He is one point shy of his 1,000th for the season. With a left ankle sprain, it’s not clear how much more time he will miss. For now, he is out for at least the next three games.