Pistons at Clippers
The top two defensive teams in the early going will square off Monday when the Detroit Pistons visit the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons improved to 4-0 at home with a 103-86 win over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, limiting their foes to 33 percent shooting.
Opponents are averaging 93 points while shooting 40.9 percent against Detroit, which received 19 points, 20 rebounds and three blocks from center Andre Drummond last time out. "I thought in the first quarter, our defense was the best it's been all year, and maybe as good as it's been since I've been here," Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters. "We were really on it, and it was making more than one, two efforts on every possession." The only team that can claim better defensive scoring numbers are the Clippers, who have held their last five opponents to under 100 points and are allowing 90.7 overall. Behind a season-high 28 points from Blake Griffin, they asserted themselves in a tough environment with a 116-92 rout in San Antonio on Saturday.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (4-2): Detroit will hope to solve its early road woes, as Monday marks the start of a stretch in which the team plays six of seven away from home, including visits to San Antonio and Cleveland. Drummond is one of many to showcase severe splits thus far, averaging 15 points and 19 rebounds at home and 11 points and six boards on the road. He averaged 19 points and 17 rebounds in two matchups with the Clippers last season
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (5-1): Griffin had 26 of his 28 points in a dominant first half for Los Angeles, which carried a 73-55 lead into intermission and had no issues getting to the finish line. "Our offense was clicking so well I got out in transition, got some easy ones there," Griffin told reporters. "But I also got some easy looks from [Chris Paul] and [DeAndre Jordan] rolling. It's nice to have those easy looks go down and that kind of builds your confidence." Paul had nine points, 10 assists and eight rebounds while Jamal Crawford (16 points) and Marreese Speights (15) contributed off the bench as the Clippers shot a season-high 51.6 percent.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Clippers have won 10 straight meetings since an overtime loss on Nov. 12, 2010.
2. Pistons PF Jon Leuer is averaging 13 points and 27.5 minutes over the last two games after being held to single digits in his first four contests.
3. Crawford stands eight 3-pointers behind Vince Carter of Memphis for sixth place on the NBA's all-time list.