Pistons at Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers look to continue their dominance of Detroit when they host the sliding Pistons on Friday. Portland is looking for its 11th win in the last 13 meetings with Detroit, and it catches the Pistons at a good time to tack on another victory. Detroit has lost eight consecutive games and center Andre Drummond was the lone bright spot in Wednesday’s 105-98 loss to the Golden State Warriors as he corralled a career-best 27 rebounds.
Drummond had 15 rebounds against Portland earlier this season when the Trail Blazers posted a 98-86 victory on Dec. 9. Portland posted a solid 105-100 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday as it battles the Rockets for third place in the Western Conference with an eye on making a charge at second-place Memphis. Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and 14 rebounds against the Rockets for his 32nd double-double of the campaign as Portland won for the sixth time in seven games.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, CSN Northwest (Portland)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (23-41): Drummond is on a roll with back-to-back 20-rebounds outings, three in his last four games and four in his last 10 contests. His 22-point, 27-rebound performance against Golden State included 17 offensive boards, one shy of the NBA record shared by Charles Oakley and Dennis Rodman. “Every night I try to go out there to rebound,” Drummond told reporters. “The ball just found a way to my hands more than not. I try to clean the glass every time. Sometimes I get it, sometimes I don’t.”
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (42-20): Portland doesn’t figure to take the lowly Pistons lightly since it has a five-game road trip looming. “I think we’re just trying to find our rhythm right now,” Aldridge told reporters. “It’s coming to the home stretch and it’s the best time to be playing great. I think right now guys are locked in.” The Trail Blazers have recovered from a dismal 2-8 stretch to win 10 of their last 14 games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Portland has won the last six home meetings.
2. The Pistons have lost 10 of their last 11 road games.
3. Trail Blazers PG Damian Lillard made one 3-pointer against Houston to become the only NBA player to make 150 or more in each of his first three seasons.