Grizzlies at Pistons
The Memphis Grizzlies watched a seven-game winning streak turn into a two-game slide of late and struggled to rise to the challenge against an Eastern Conference contender when they were knocked off 119-95 by the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. The Grizzlies will try to avoid a third consecutive setback when they finish off the two-game trip by visiting the Detroit Pistons on Friday.
Memphis averaged 124.3 points during its seven-game winning streak and was solid on the offensive end in a 126-116 loss to New Orleans on Monday before shutting down against the Celtics. "They brought it defensively tonight," Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins told reporters of Boston. "This is something we talked about. It is great for our guys to experience, especially our young guys. ... We didn't get our rhythm shots that we needed, so it was just great learning. As unfortunate as (losing) is, you strive to play at that level." The Pistons are beginning to surge with wins in three of the last four games and got point guard Reggie Jackson (back) back from a 42-game absence in Wednesday's 127-106 drubbing of the Sacramento Kings. "I felt good and was just fortunate enough to make some shots," Jackson told reporters after scoring 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting in 19 minutes off the bench. "Teammates did a great job spacing the ball, setting screens, getting the ball to me. Just made the game easy."
TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: FS Southeast, FS Detroit
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (20-24): Memphis was outscored 74-36 in the second and third quarters on Wednesday after getting off to a solid start and ended up shooting 42.4 percent from the floor. The lone starter to hit more than 33.3 percent of his shots in the loss was center Jonas Valanciunas, who scored a team-high 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting and added 13 rebounds for his 21st double-double. Valanciunas is averaging 17 points on 60 percent shooting and 11.4 rebounds in 10 games this month, including a pair of 30-point efforts.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (17-28): Detroit coach Dwane Casey elected to keep Derrick Rose in the starting lineup at point guard despite Jackson's return and Rose breezed to 22 points and 11 assists over 30 minutes in the win. "He gives us two big-time point guards on the floor," Casey told reporters of Rose and Jackson. "When you can alternate those two guys, you have stability at the point guard position. That's what this league is about - guys who can create, run the floor. Having those two guys together makes a difference." Rose, who surpassed 11,000 career points in the win, scored 20 or more points in each of his last 10 games and is averaging 23.6 in that span.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Grizzlies PF Jaren Jackson Jr. blocked four shots on Wednesday and recorded multiple blocks in seven of the last nine contests.
2. Pistons C Andre Drummond (mouth) sat out Wednesday after having a tooth knocked out at Washington on Monday and is day-to-day.
3. Detroit took both meetings last season and four of the last five in the series.