Pistons at Nets
With both teams reeling, something will have to give when the Detroit Pistons visit the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. Detroit has lost seven of nine, including both ends of a home-and-home with Atlanta on Wednesday and Friday, while Brooklyn has dropped four straight and seven of its last eight. "The effort for us has to be there," Nets coach Jason Kidd told the New York Post. "It has to be a constant ... and it hasn't been."
Pistons forward Josh Smith experienced a miserable reunion against his former Hawks teammates, totaling 11 points on 5-of-22 shooting in the back-to-backs, including a scoreless effort on 0-for-7 shooting on Friday. Detroit played without Chauncey Billups (knee), Will Bynum (hamstring) and Charlie Villanueva (back) in both tilts against Atlanta and all are considered day-to-day.
TV: 2 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, YES (Brooklyn)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (4-8): Detroit coach Maurice Cheeks told the Detroit Free Press that his club's defensive struggles have him bewildered. "To be 30th," Cheeks said of the Pistons' ranking in opponents' field-goal percentage, "it is surprising and I think we have to get better on the defensive end, closing out the paint (and) rebounding the ball." Entering Saturday's NBA play, Detroit's 42.2 rebounds per game ranked 16th in the league.
ABOUT THE NETS (3-9): Kidd told the New York Daily News he thought his team was "better each time (they've) taken the floor," but the reality is Brooklyn sat just a half-game out of last in the Eastern Conference heading into the weekend. Only Milwaukee (2-9) and Utah (1-13) have won fewer games than the Nets. Forward Kevin Garnett, who had been 7-0 against the Timberwolves since being traded from Minnesota to Boston 2007 before Friday's loss, is off to the worst start of his career, averaging 6.7 points in 11 games in his first year in Brooklyn.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Brooklyn won all four meetings against Detroit last season.
2. Both teams are struggling defensively with the Pistons allowing opponents 101.2 points and the Nets 101.7.
3. Detroit SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ranks sixth among NBA rookies, averaging 7.4 points.