Detroit’s losing woes show no sign of abating as the Pistons crashed to their second consecutive defeat with a 116-103 loss to Miami on Saturday night. The Pistons simply had no answer for Goran Dragic who exploded for 23 points. It was another disappointing result for the reeling Pistons who were outscored in the fourth quarter, 26-12.
The Pistons will look to end their losing rut when they face the Boston Celtics tonight. For Detroit to pull off a major upset, it needs to improve on its play on the defensive end. In their last two losses, opponents have scored an average of 112.5 points. The one player that they need to stop this evening is the red-hot Isaiah Thomas. He totaled 51 points and 12 assists in two meetings with Detroit this season. Thomas scored 24 in a 94-92 victory at Detroit on November 19 and finished with 27 in a 121-114 home defeat on November 30.
The Pistons played both of those games, however, without Reggie Jackson and head coach Stan Van Gundy hopes that he can somewhat neutralize the hot-shooting guard. The Pistons are 10-16 since his return last December 4 with Jackson averaging 17.2 points and 5.5 dimes per game during that stretch. Jackson, who scored 24 points in Saturday’s loss to Miami, has averaged 16.2 points per game in 12 career games against Boston.
The Pistons are 3-7 SU and ATS in their last 10 road games.
There’s just no stopping Boston right now. The Celtics extended their winning streak to three games with a pulsating 112-108 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night. Four players scored in double figures for the Celtics who moved to within 3.5 games of the Cleveland Cavaliers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
Leading the way for the Celtics in this game was Isaiah Thomas. The two-time All-Star scored 37 points against the Bucks on 11-of-21 shooting from the field. He was red-hot from beyond the arc, going 6-of-11 from the three-point area. Thomas has been on fire since coming back from a groin injury, averaging 31.6 points over his last 22 games. He has scored at least 20 points in each of his last 31 outings.
Thomas and the rest of the Celtics will look to keep the momentum going when they lock horns with the Detroit Pistons later tonight. They will fancy their chances of doing just that as they have fared extremely well at home of late. The Celtics have won nine of their last 11 home games, including each of their last two.
The Celtics are 8-2 SU and 6-4 ATS in their last 10 home games.
