Pistons at 76ers
THE STORY: The Philadelphia 76ers had little trouble dispatching of the Detroit Pistons at home earlier this month and seek another convincing victory when the teams again meet in Philadelphia on Saturday. The 76ers held the Pistons without a 3-point basket and guard Jodie Meeks scored 17 of his 21 points in the final quarter as Philadelphia pulled away for a 96-73 trouncing of the Pistons on Jan. 6. Detroit was 0-for-10 from behind the arc and shot 36 percent overall. The 76ers lead the Atlantic Division and improved to 9-2 at home with Friday’s 89-72 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats. Detroit is in last place in the Central Division and is just 1-8 on the road. The Pistons suffered an excruciating 107-101 overtime home loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday as they let a six-point lead with under 40 seconds to play get away. The loss was Detroit’s third straight and seventh in eight games. The Pistons were without forward Tayshaun Prince, who missed his second consecutive game due to a family matter.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Fox Sports (Detroit), Comcast SportsNet (Philadelphia)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (4-16): It took overtime to do it but Detroit finally scored 100 points in a game. The Pistons had just 87 points in regulation time and only got the chance to make a run at the century mark due to a late fourth-quarter collapse against the Hawks. Detroit had twice scored 98 this season. The Pistons have scored under 90 points 13 times and are last in the NBA in scoring at 86.8 points per game.
ABOUT THE 76ERS (13-6): Meeks is a streaky player and his fourth-quarter barrage against Detroit earlier this month is one of his two 20-point contests this season. Meeks hit four 3-pointers in the final quarter against the Pistons and was 6-for-7 from the field after being just 1-for-6 over the first three quarters. Meeks had 15 points against Charlotte on Friday for only his third double-digit outing in the last eight games. He averages 9.3 points.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Detroit has won seven of the past 10 meetings with the 76ers.
2. Pistons guard Ben Gordon (shoulder) has missed four consecutive games and is unlikely to play against the 76ers.
3. Philadelphia center Spencer Hawes (Achilles’ tendon) has missed six straight games and center Nikola Vucevic (knee) has missed the last three.