Pistons at 76ers
THE STORY: Already locked into the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers will look to record their first winning season in six years when they host the Detroit Pistons in the regular-season finale Wednesday night. Philadelphia has staggered to the finish line, having lost four of its last five, and unraveling in the second half of a 95-85 home loss to Orlando on Monday night. Not the ideal way to tune up for a playoff matchup against the Miami Heat. The Pistons have stumbled from start to finish in their second straight 50-loss season.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSD-Plus, CSP
ABOUT THE 76ERS (41-40): Philadelphia’s late-season skid allowed the New York Knicks to jump up and grab the No. 6 seed in the East. The Sixers, despite playing without two of their leading scorers in Andre Iguodala and Louis Williams, erased a 14-point deficit and led by two early in the third quarter Monday. Things turned just as quickly when Orlando went on a 21-4 run and the Sixers raised the white flag. Elton Brand scored 22 points but the 76ers couldn’t contend with the Magic’s inside muscle, getting throttled on the backboards by a 56-31 margin.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (29-52): Detroit had won three straight before losing at home, 110-101 to Cleveland – the second-worst team in the NBA. Rodney Stuckey was superb in defeat, scoring 29 points and handing out 14 assists. Charlie Villanueva provided the a low point of the game, getting involved in a fracas with Ryan Hollins that caused him to go ballistic. He had to be restrained by teammates on the court and by police later while attempting to get into Cleveland’s locker room. John Kuester is likely coaching his last game after going 56-107 in two seasons and clashing with half his roster.
WHO’S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Stuckey has four straight 20-point games. He has double-digit assists in three of them and has made 33 straight free throws in that span. Teammate Tayshaun Prince has scored a total of 15 points and grabbed just one rebound in the past two games. Brand averaged 22.6 points and 7.3 rebounds in his last three games and shot 63.8 percent (30 of 47) during that stretch.
KEY STATISTIC: In its last five games, Philadelphia has failed to crack 100 points and has been held to 87 or fewer three times.
SEASON SERIES: The teams have split two games, with Detroit holding off the visiting Sixers 112-109 in overtime on Jan. 8. Philadelphia avenged the defeat with an easy 110-94 home victory on Feb. 25.
KEY INJURIES: DETROIT: G Will Bynum (calf); G Tracy McGrady (leg); C Ben Wallace (knee). PHILADELPHIA: G Louis Williams (hamstring); G Andre Iguodala (knee).
LAST WORD: “I don't know if I've ever seen that in my entire life. I thought it was a typographical error.” – Sixers coach Doug Collins after seeing that Orlando held a 25-2 rebounding advantage at one point in Monday’s game.