Pistons at Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers’ new lineup is proving to be just as capable of putting up points as its old squad, and wins are coming along as well. The Trail Blazers will try to earn their fourth straight win when they host the Detroit Pistons on Sunday.
Portland waived goodbye to starters LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum, Robin Lopez and Wesley Matthews in the offseason but hung onto Damian Lillard and is building around the young point guard. Lillard is averaging 32 points on 52.9 percent shooting during the three-game winning streak and knocked down a season-high seven 3-pointers in a 115-96 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday. The Pistons are an early-season surprise as well and kicked off a six-game road trip with a 100-92 win at Phoenix on Friday. Detroit has yet to allow more than 94 points and Andre Drummond is becoming a force at both ends of the floor.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, CSN Northwest (Portland)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (4-1): Drummond grabbed at least 17 rebounds in four of the first five games and is averaging 18.6 points and 19 boards. The one flaw in his game continues to be free-throw shooting, and Detroit managed to kick off its road trip with a win despite Drummond going 2-of-13 from the line at Phoenix. He is shooting 45.7 percent from the line on the season, which actually counts as a step up from his career 40 percent.
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (4-2): Lillard is getting plenty of support from guard C.J. McCollum, who was buried on the bench behind Matthews before getting an opportunity to start this season. The 24-year-old Lehigh product is averaging 22.2 points and shooting 46.2 percent from 3-point range opposite Lillard on the first unit. McCollum is 7-of-11 from beyond the arc in the last two games and has yet to score fewer than 15 points this season.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Trail Blazers C Meyers Leonard (ankle) is questionable for Sunday.
2. Detroit rookie F Stanley Johnson is shooting 28.9 percent from the field.
3. Portland has taken five straight in the series.