Pistons at 76ers
The Detroit Pistons squandered a chance to move up in the Eastern Conference at the expense of one of the teams in front of them on Friday and are teetering on the edge of the top eight. The Pistons will try to bounce back on Saturday when they continue their road trip by visiting the NBA-worst Philadelphia 76ers.
Detroit pulled out a pair of impressive wins over Portland and Dallas to move into eighth place in the East before dropping a 118-103 decision at Charlotte on Friday. The Pistons have two stops left on the four-game road trip - at Philadelphia and Washington - before a nine-game homestand and can’t afford to fall to teams behind them in the standings while they tussle with the Chicago Bulls for the eighth spot. The 76ers are without one of their building blocks with Jahlil Okafor (knee) scheduled for surgery but managed to snap a 13-game slide with a 95-89 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday. Philadelphia is dealing with a series of injuries and endured a scary situation when forward Robert Covington was taken off the court on a stretcher on Friday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, TCN (Philadelphia)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (33-32): All-Star center Andre Drummond has taken some heat from coach Stan Van Gundy for inconsistent effort at times this season and was noticeably off his game on Friday. The big man came in averaging 16.8 points and 15.1 rebounds but attempted only one field goal and finished with five points and nine rebounds in the loss to the Hornets. Detroit could have used more of Drummond’s presence on the defensive end while allowing the Hornets to shoot 50.6 percent from the field.
ABOUT THE 76ERS (9-56): Philadelphia announced prior to Friday’s game that Okafor would undergo a minor procedure on his knee that is expected to keep him out six weeks. That injury seemed insignificant later in the day when forward Jerami Grant inadvertently kicked Covington in the head, leading to Covington being taken out on a stretcher and sent to a local hospital and Grant leaving the game to be evaluated for a concussion. The depleted 76ers leaned on veteran Carl Landry off the bench in their absence, and he responded with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. 76ers F/C Nerlens Noel is averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds in two games since returning from a knee injury.
2. Pistons F Tobias Harris is averaging 17.4 points in 11 games since joining the team.
3. Detroit took the first three meetings this season by an average of 15 points.