Celtics at Pistons
The Boston Celtics look to keep up their quality play on the road when they visit Detroit on Saturday. With a win in Charlotte on Wednesday, the Celtics improved to 8-6 away from home this season, and they are 15-6 since the stretch run of last season.
However, one of their recent road losses came just 10 days ago in Detroit, where the Pistons picked up a 119-116 victory to begin a three-game winning streak of their own. That run concluded with a 107-100 loss at Atlanta in a game that saw the Hawks employ the popular method of fouling Detroit's star center Andre Drummond, who missed 11 of his first 16 foul shots and is at 37.9 percent for the season. "He's going to have to shoot the ball better at the line in order to stay in the game," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters. "He can't continue to shoot under 50 percent. He just can't." Detroit has defeated Boston seven straight times at home.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CSN New England (Boston), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE CELTICS (16-13): Boston put forth a balanced attack in picking up its second win at Charlotte in less than two weeks, with Kelly Olynyk leading five players in double figures with 20 points. "We're tough to guard," said Olynyk, who is averaging 19.5 points and seven rebounds in two starts since Amir Johnson (plantar fasciitis) was sidelined. "You can't key in on one person. That's how we have to play to win." Olynyk was held scoreless at Detroit earlier this month while Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics with 38 points.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (17-13): Much of Detroit's solid play of late could be tied to a recent surge for shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who is averaging 15.8 points this month and has reached double figures seven games in a row. However, the third-year pro was limited to 24 minutes at Atlanta after suffering a left leg strain. While Caldwell-Pope recovers from that issue, fellow guard Brandon Jennings (Achilles) nears a return but is not expected to make his season debut until Tuesday at New York.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Boston SF Jae Crowder has three straight double-doubles while averaging 20.3 points and 10.7 rebounds.
2. Pistons PG Reggie Jackson has scored at least 18 points in eight straight games.
3. The Celtics are averaging 108 points in their last four games after posting a season-low 77 in a loss to Cleveland on Dec. 15.