Pistons at Rockets
The Detroit Pistons are capable of beating the best team in the NBA one game and falling quietly in the next. The Pistons will continue to try to develop some consistency when they open up a four-game road trip at the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.
Detroit held the Golden State Warriors to a season-low 36.2 percent from the field in a 113-95 win on Saturday but allowed the Chicago Bulls to shoot 52.4 percent in a 111-101 loss on Monday. “I think we’re a consistently inconsistent team,” point guard Reggie Jackson told reporters. “We’ve shown we play well at times. We play to the level of our opponent quite a bit.” The Rockets got a huge effort from center Dwight Howard and made a furious comeback to force overtime in Los Angeles on Monday before falling to the Clippers 140-132. “I didn’t even know points or stats I had,” Howard told reporters. “I wasn’t paying attention to anything. I just wanted to get out there and get a good win against a good team.”
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, ROOT (Houston)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (22-19): All five starters scored in double figures on Monday but the bench totaled just 18 points despite Brandon Jennings playing through a jammed ankle suffered in the previous game. “We started the game pretty well with our starters, we went to the bench, and the bench didn’t have anything going (on Monday),” coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters. “We got crushed with the bench and then after that we just got pretty well taken apart for the rest of the game.” That bench got a boost when Jennings returned from an Achilles injury last month, but he has scored in single digits in eight of 10 games while averaging 17.3 minutes.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (22-21): Houston has dropped two of its last three games, with both losses coming against championship-caliber teams in the Clippers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. “I don’t think our effort was there from the beginning of the game, that’s what allowed them to get out early and never look back,” Howard told reporters after the team fell short on Monday despite his 36 points and 26 rebounds. “We cut the lead, we tied the game up but we gave them too much confidence and we have to do a better job of coming out and destroying teams' confidence.” The Rockets have won six of their last eight games overall.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pistons C Andre Drummond ran his latest double-double streak to five straight with 13 points and 16 boards on Monday.
2. Howard recorded a double-double in each of his last 10 games.
3. Drummond scored 24 points despite going 4-of-18 from the free-throw line as Detroit earned a 116-105 home win over Houston on Nov. 30.