Pistons at Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs went 7-1 on the annual "Rodeo Road Trip" and play
at home for the first time since Feb. 6 when the Detroit Pistons come to
town on Tuesday. San Antonio is 28-0 at home this season but could be
tested by a suddenly hot Detroit team that has matched its season high
of four straight wins.
The Spurs reached 50 victories for a record 17th consecutive season when they posted a 104-94 win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday to complete the road trip. "Definitely 7-1, that's pretty impressive," point guard Tony Parker told reporters. "We just have to keep it going. It's been a while I think since we did that good on the road trip; not even just the wins, but the way we played defensively and stuff like that." Detroit was struggling with five straight defeats - it allowed 59 points to New Orleans star Anthony Davis in the final loss - before putting together the solid stretch that includes wins over Cleveland and Toronto, and now gets to face the Spurs. "San Antonio's a decent home team," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy deadpanned to reporters. "So that'll be a nice challenge and then you've got five more road games after that in the next six. So it's not going to get any easier and that's OK."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, FSN Detroit, FSN Southwest (San Antonio)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (31-29): All-Star center Andre Drummond is on a roll with 13 consecutive double-doubles after having 15 points and 18 rebounds in Sunday's win over Toronto. Drummond, who is averaging 16.8 points and a league-best 15 rebounds, is grabbing an average of 17 boards during Detroit's four-game winning streak. "Andre's back to getting huge numbers on the boards again," Van Gundy told reporters. "He had been in a long stretch of what would be great rebounding for anyone else but was a down stretch for him. He was only getting like 12 a game, which would've only made him like the second- or third-best rebounder in the league. And now he's back to 15-plus every night."
ABOUT THE SPURS (50-9): San Antonio typically looks at the annual long trip as a time for bonding in hopes it will help lead to a deep playoff run, and veteran center Tim Duncan approved of the latest excursion. "It was a great trip for us and I think we got better on this trip as a road team and matured a little bit," Duncan told reporters. "Obviously, our lineups are changing a little bit with our guys' injuries. Just all around, guys stepped up and we kept our focus. All in all, a great trip for us." Duncan also reached a milestone against the Rockets when he had one rejection to become the fifth player in NBA history to reach 3,000 career blocked shots.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Parker scored a season-best 31 points as the Spurs recorded a 109-99 road win over the Pistons on Jan. 12.
2. The Spurs signed veteran PG Andre Miller and waived PG Ray McCallum.
3. Detroit rookie F Stanley Johnson (shoulder) could miss his fourth straight contest.