Spurs at Pistons
The streaking San Antonio Spurs attempt to win their ninth straight game
and 15th in the past 16 outings when they visit the Detroit Pistons on
Tuesday. San Antonio has won by an average of 18.8 points during the
winning streak, including four victories by 25 or more points.
The Spurs rolled to a 106-79 victory over the hapless Brooklyn Nets on Monday and have the second-best record in the NBA behind the Golden State Warriors. San Antonio was tested for a half before dominating the second half by a 61-41 margin and held the opponent under 100 points for the 16th time in the last 18 contests. Detroit is a solid 13-5 at home and has won four its last five overall games entering a contest that will test its level of improvement. "It certainly gets you excited as a player but the point is it's still one win or one loss," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters. "It's not anything bigger than that. But players, you naturally get excited to play against the best."
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (San Antonio), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE SPURS (33-6): Power forward LaMarcus Aldridge stood out with 25 points on 12-of-17 shooting and 11 rebounds against the Nets for his 12th double-double of the season. Aldridge has three double-doubles during the past five games while averaging 20.4 points and 10.4 rebounds and is starting to appreciate the San Antonio way of doing business. "It's consistency," Aldridge told reporters. "There's no surprises. You know what you're going to get day in and day out, game in and game out, so it just makes it easier to do your job, for sure."
ABOUT THE PISTONS (21-16): The club is hoping starting small forward Marcus Morris (knee) will be back in the lineup after sitting out Saturday's 103-89 with the Nets and missing Monday's practice. "I just didn't see putting him back there with tendinitis even though he felt like he could go," Van Gundy told reporters after Monday's practice. "I figure we'd wait one more day and rest him and wait until (Tuesday). So we're hopeful." First-round draft pick Stanley Johnson started in place of Morris against the Nets and struggled with eight points on 4-of-13 shooting.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The teams have split the past six meetings.
2. San Antonio SG Danny Green is averaging just 4.3 points on 6-of-22 shooting during the last four contests.
3. Detroit PG Reggie Jackson is averaging 23.5 points on 18-of-32 shooting in the past two games.