Pistons at Pacers
THE STORY: The Indiana Pacers, who have wrapped up the third seed in the Eastern Conference, host the Detroit Pistons on Monday. Indiana's seven-game winning streak ended with Saturday's loss to Philadelphia, but the Pacers clinched the third spot Sunday when Atlanta lost to New York. That could give coach Frank Vogel a chance to rest his key players in the final two games before the playoffs begin this weekend. The Pistons are coming off an ugly 76-73 victory over Toronto on Sunday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Detroit, FS Indiana
ABOUT THE PISTONS (24-40): Detroit is staggering to the finish of another lackluster season. The Pistons have lost four of six and seven of 10. Even their latest victory was no masterpiece. Detroit scored a season-low 29 points in the first half and managed to beat Toronto despite shooting 36.6 percent for the game. Brandon Knight bounced back from consecutive five-point games to score 19. The rookie guard, one of the few building blocks on Detroit's roster, has topped the 20-point mark three times in the last seven games.
ABOUT THE PACERS (41-23): Indiana's biggest issue going into the playoffs is the point guard situation. Darren Collison, who started the first 56 games, is slowly working his way back into action after missing six games with a groin injury. He came off the bench Saturday and scored eight points in 16 minutes. George Hill has been starting with Collison sidelined and Vogel must make a decision on who's going to get the majority of the minutes in the playoffs. The Pacers are 7-1 when Hill starts at point guard with the only loss coming Saturday.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The teams have split their two games this season with each winning on its home floor. The Pacers have won seven of the last 10 games against the Pistons.
2. It's headline news when Danny Granger has a bad game. Averaging a team-high 18.7 points, he was shut down by Andre Iguodala on Saturday. Granger was 2-of-12 from the field and scored four points.
3. Detroit center Greg Monroe grabbed 17 rebounds Sunday, his second highest total of the season. He had 20 rebounds against Charlotte on Feb. 29.