Pistons at Wizards
THE STORY: Lottery position. Otherwise, there’s not much on the line for either team when the Washington Wizards host the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night. Detroit’s loss at Boston on Sunday marked its 50th defeat, giving the franchise back-to-back 50-loss seasons for the first time since the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons. Washington has shown a sign of a pulse of late, winning three of its last four after a rare road victory at Charlotte on Sunday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSD, CSW
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (20-56): After starting the season 1-35 on the road, Washington has won its last two away from home. Andray Blatche scored 25 points and snared 17 rebounds in Sunday’s victory that provided a damaging blow to Charlotte’s postseason hopes. Rookie guard Jordan Crawford continued his emergence as an offensive force with 23 points as the Wizards took control of the game with a 21-7 third-quarter spurt. Washington has gone 3-1 despite the absence of leading scorer Nick Young, who has been sidelined four games with a knee injury.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (26-50): Detroit is limping to the finish line, having lost three consecutive games, six of the past seven overall and 10 straight on the road. Will Bynum, starting at point guard in place of a benched Rodney Stuckey, had a team-high 20 points against the Celtics. Stuckey was sat down by coach John Kuester after he reportedly refused to re-enter Friday’s home loss against Chicago. A favorable closing schedule should allow the Pistons to better last season’s 27-55 record, with five of their last six opponents sporting losing records.
WHO’S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Blatche is coming off two huge games, scoring 61 points and grabbing 36 boards in wins over Charlotte and Cleveland. Crawford, acquired from Atlanta in the Mike Bibby-Kirk Hinrich trade, has averaged 27.0 points in his last four games. Pistons guard Ben Gordon, a former Sixth Man award winner, is providing little oomph off the bench. He has failed to reach double digits in his last seven games and is averaging 3.4 points in that span.
KEY STATISTIC: The game matches the NBA’s best and worst shot-blocking teams. The Wizards rank No. 1 with 6.0 per game while the Pistons are last at 4.0.
SEASON SERIES: The Pistons won both meetings at home, outlasting the Wizards in overtime 115-110 on Nov. 21 and easing to a 113-102 victory on March 6.
KEY INJURIES: DETROIT: C Ben Wallace (knee); G Terrico White (foot). WASHINGTON: F Josh Howard (knee); G Nick Young (knee); C Hamady N'Diaye (knee); F Trevor Booker (foot); F Rashard Lewis (knee).
LAST WORD: “So this is what it feels like, huh?” – Wizards rookie guard and No. 1 overall pick John Wall after Washington won its second road game in a row. The Wizards lost their first 25 games away from home this season.