Pelicans at Pistons
The Detroit Pistons made moves to shake up the roster this week but are still putting together the pieces. The Pistons are still waiting for Donatas Motiejunas and Marcus Thornton to make their respective team debuts and will try to end a four-game slide when they host the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.
Detroit was one of the most active teams prior to the trade deadline and got a strong debut from Tobias Harris, who scored 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting off the bench against the Washington Wizards on Friday. The rest of Harris’ new teammates weren’t quite as sharp, and the Pistons fell behind by as many as 24 points before suffering a 98-86 setback. The Pelicans hung onto Ryan Anderson at the break and were rewarded with 26 points off the bench from the veteran forward in a 121-114 win over Philadelphia on Friday. New Orleans still believes it has a shot at a playoff spot in the Western Conference with a strong finish and has won three of its last four games.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, FSN New Orleans, FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE PELICANS (21-33): New Orleans is six games behind the eighth-place Houston Rockets in the West but is treating the final 28 games like a college season and trying to rack up as many wins as possible. “At this point for us we want to win,” Anderson told reporters. “We want wins and we want to build at a winning stretch of games, and a winning culture. We think of this as a new season and a new start so this is a good way to start this second half of the season.” The Pelicans’ outlook would be a whole lot clearer if point guard Jrue Holiday stayed healthy for those 28 games and continued to put up 24 points and 12 assists, like he did on Friday.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (27-28): Detroit is on the outside looking in as well, 1 1/2 games behind Chicago and Charlotte in the East. Harris should give the team even more of a boost once he gets up to speed and is already impressing coach Stan Van Gundy. “I thought he played really well,” Van Gundy told reporters of Harris. “I mean that's a tough situation for a guy coming in on a trade and having one full practice like that. He's an extremely intelligent basketball player. He actually won two positions in one day. He played both the three and the four. He was very effective offensively and I thought he did a really, really nice job.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Motiejunas (back) is day-to-day and has not appeared in an NBA game since Dec. 31.
2. Pelicans G Bryce Dejean-Jones (wrist) left Friday’s game and is day-to-day.
3. New Orleans has taken seven straight in the series, including a 115-99 home win on Jan. 21.