Mavericks at Pistons
Two teams fighting for position at the bottom of their respective conference’s playoff brackets square off when the Dallas Mavericks visit the Detroit Pistons on Friday. The Pistons are looking more and more like a team that has earned its spot and will go for their seventh win in eight games against the Mavericks.
Detroit jumped into seventh place in the East with an 88-82 home win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday and goes into play on Thursday 2 1/2 games ahead of ninth-place Chicago. “I don’t know if we’re going to have to win six out of seven, five out of seven,” Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters. “I think you’ll have to win probably four or five. You’re going to need 44 or 45 wins when the last five years in the East, you needed 38 wins. That’s just the way it is this year. So we’re going to have to beat good teams and we’re going to have to beat one or two good teams on the road.” The Mavericks have dropped 10 of their last 14 games and needed to mount a late comeback to overcome the lowly New York Knicks on Wednesday. The 91-89 triumph, coupled with Utah’s overtime loss to the Golden State Warriors, left Dallas, Houston and Utah tied at 37-38 from the Nos. 7-9 slots in the West heading into play on Thursday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (37-38): Dallas may be putting a run together with back-to-back wins over Denver and New York after dropping 10 of 12. Both wins featured strong defensive performances and big games offensively from reserve guard J.J. Barea, who hit the go-ahead basket in the final minute on Wednesday and averaged 22 points and nine assists in the two wins. “I feel in a great rhythm,” Barea told reporters. “My legs feel great. I feel quick, that I can get (to the basket) any time in the pick-and-roll.”
ABOUT THE PISTONS (40-35): Detroit has seven games left in the regular season and embarks on a three-game road trip following Friday’s contest. The Pistons held the Thunder to 37.8 percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers in the win to overcome some of their own shooting woes and are well aware of what they have to do to lock down a playoff spot. “To go into seventh place is huge,” Detroit forward Marcus Morris told reporters. “Got Dallas coming in on Friday, then we got a big back-to-back on Saturday versus Chicago. Those are two big games, maybe two of the biggest games all year.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pistons G Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is 6-of-29 from the field in the last two games, including 2-of-12 from 3-point range.
2. Mavericks F Dirk Nowitzki is 15-of-55 from the floor in the last three games.
3. Nowitzki had 25 points and 10 rebounds at home on March 9 but Dallas still dropped a 103-96 decision to Detroit.