Pistons at Suns
THE STORY: The Detroit Pistons look for their sixth victory in eight games when they visit the Phoenix Suns on Friday. Detroit even won a road game Wednesday, rallying from a 16-point deficit to beat the Sacramento Kings to improve to 4-16 away from home. The Suns have also been playing well of late and are 9-3 over the last 12 games after rallying from a 12-point, final-quarter deficit to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS Detroit (Pistons), FS Arizona (Suns)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (16-27): Detroit had its top offensive performance in the 124-112 victory over Sacramento, setting season-highs for points, field-goal percentage (58.1) and 3-point percentage (61.5). It was only the sixth time all season that the Pistons scored 100 or more points. Guard Rodney Stuckey scored 35 points, center Greg Monroe matched his career-high of 32 points and forward Tayshaun Prince tallied 28 points. Prince became only the 10th player in Pistons history to reach 9,000 career points. Detroit also committed only 10 turnovers. “We’ve been coming together as a team,” Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said. “It’s a collaboration in a lot of different areas at both ends of the floor.”
ABOUT THE SUNS (21-22): Phoenix’s come-from-behind victory over the Clippers was highly improbable with veterans Steve Nash and Grant Hill receiving a night of rest in the middle contest of a back-to-back-to-back. Shannon Brown stepped up with a season-best 21 points and scored Phoenix’s final seven points, including the go-ahead free throws. Suns coach Alvin Gentry also rested Nash in the second contest of a three games in three nights stretch in mid-February and Nash delivered 22 points and 16 assists the following night against the Atlanta Hawks. This break came after Nash registered five consecutive double-doubles and averaged 13.0 assists during the span.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Phoenix has won five of the last six meetings.
2. Suns center Marcin Gortat is averaging only 6.0 rebounds over the past four games after averaging 13.5 over the previous four outings.
3. Pistons guard Brandon Knight had a career-best 11 assists and didn’t commit a single turnover against Sacramento.