Thunder at Pistons
The Oklahoma City Thunder will try to snap out of a sudden offensive funk when they visit the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday in the opener of a three-game road trip. The Thunder averaged 120.6 points in a five-game winning streak before getting crushed 133-86 at Milwaukee on Friday and then dropping a 109-94 contest at home against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday.
"There are times that we got kind of swallowed up, so to speak, with their size, and same thing with Milwaukee," coach Billy Donovan told the media Tuesday. "And I think that these last two games can be really valuable in terms of playing against elite teams in terms of how much pace and ball movement we have to play with to generate good shots." Dennis Schroder scored 24 points off the bench while Oklahoma City's five starters combined for just 55 on 19-of-47 shooting. After snapping a seven-game slide with a win at Phoenix on Friday, the Pistons finished a four-game road trip with a 106-100 setback at Sacramento on Sunday. Detroit blew an early 17-point lead in the loss and also saw veteran guard Derrick Rose, one of the few constants on a roster that has seen incredible turnover, leave with an ankle injury in the first quarter.
TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: FS Oklahoma, FS Detroit
ABOUT THE THUNDER (37-24): Danilo Gallinari returned from an ankle injury that kept him out of the Milwaukee game to score 15 points against the Clippers, but he missed all four of his shots inside the arc and was 4-of-13 overall. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander also had 15 points while Chris Paul finished with 14 and seven of Oklahoma City's 16 assists in the loss to Los Angeles. Wednesday begins a stretch in which the Thunder play six of eight and 11 of 16 on the road.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (20-42): Rose, the team's leader in scoring (18.1) and assists (5.6), will be reevaluated in a few weeks, at which point Detroit's frustrating season will be nearing an end and the team will need to decide whether it is worth brining Rose back. "We'll just see how he feels," coach Dwane Casey told reporters. "I wouldn't put that in concrete ... I don't know what he would gain from it by coming back (for the last weeks). We haven't made that decision yet." His absence figures to open up some more playing time for Brandon Knight, who is averaging 11.2 points - 16 over his last four games - since joining the team at the trade deadline.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Oklahoma City has been held under 100 points in consecutive games for the first time since the first two contests this season.
2. Pistons PF Christian Wood, who is averaging 20.6 points and 10.2 rebounds since the All-Star break, is questionable due to a sprained foot.
3. The Thunder have won four straight meetings, including a 108-101 triumph at home Feb. 7.