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Knee strain to sideline Pistons' Monroe for 8th straight game

Raj Mehta / USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Pistons will be without power forward Greg Monroe for the eighth consecutive game when they take on the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, according to David Mayo of MLive.com

Monroe has been dealing with a right knee strain, and last played on March 14, in a loss to the Utah Jazz. That loss was the Pistons' 10th in a row. Since then they've surprisingly gone 5-2, as Reggie Jackson has caught fire and Andre Drummond has wrought havoc in a more open, breathable frontcourt. Drummond has averaged 18 points and 14.6 rebounds in those seven games. 

That's a small sample, but it bears mentioning, given Monroe's status as an impending unrestricted free agent. With averages of 16 points and 10.4 rebounds, and a 21.1 PER, he's put together arguably his best individual season ahead of the most important summer of his life. But that doesn't necessarily mean he's the right long-term fit alongside Drummond. 

Pistons head coach and general manager Stan Van Gundy has claimed to be 99.9 percent sure Monroe will be back in Detroit, but the longer he remains sidelined, the clearer the picture of a potential future without him will look. 

They haven't really had that opportunity to this point because Monroe has proven remarkably durable; before this recent hiatus he'd missed just one game to injury in his five-year career. 

The Pistons will also face an offseason decision on Jackson, who will be a restricted free agent. 

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