Playing through thumb injury, Pistons' Hayes making progress

Special to The Detroit News

Killian Hayes hopes to continue playing through the injured left thumb on his shooting hand. The Pistons point guard was fitted for a splint that allowed him to return for the last two games on the current road trip, and has held up just fine.

"His growth is coming," Pistons coach Dwane Casey said. "Unfortunate that he got injured, and the same thing happened to him last year. He was starting and feeling his way. But then he had the sports hernia thing. This year was his thumb. It was good for him to take (time) off. He’s feeling much better now.

“We’ll see if he can jumpstart it to do it again. He was playing pretty good, especially defensively. He’s one of our…