Believe it or not, the Nets have been playing well. They’re 7-9 this month, and head into this matchup having won three of their last five contests. That stretch includes a 98-96 home win against Detroit, whom they’ll look to sweep tonight.
Brook Lopez, who leads Brooklyn in points (20.7) and blocks (1.6) this season, has dominated the Pistons in the previous two meetings, averaging 31.5 points and 9.0 rebounds. The veteran has also put up no fewer than 23 points in all but two of his previous eight games.
This late late-season surge from the Nets is a result of their defensive efforts, too. Prior to the loss to the Sixers on Tuesday night, Brooklyn got a huge road win at Atlanta, where the Nets held the Hawks to 92 points on a collective 34.7 percent shooting.
The Pistons are moving towards the wrong direction at the worst possible time. They’ve lost eight of their previous nine games, and are desperate to snap a five-game slide tonight and get back into the playoff race.
Detroit, which is 1.5 games short of the eight seed in the east, needs to resurrect its offense that’s failed to reach the 100-point mark in each of its last five contests. The team’s really missed the aggression and scoring presence of Reggie Jackson (knee) who’s sat out the last two games, and he probably will again for this contest.
It was good to see Kentavious Caldwell-Pope get it going, despite losing to the Heat on Tuesday night. He finished with 25 points and five rebounds. He’s only 4-of-21 from three-point range over the last three games, however.
The Pistons are 6-4 SU and 7-3 ATS in their past 10 home games.
