Thunder at Pistons
The Detroit Pistons finally recorded their first road victory last time out and look to remain unbeaten at home when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday. The Pistons snapped a three-game losing streak Saturday as six players hit double figures in scoring en route to a 106-95 win at Denver, their first triumph in six contests away from home.
“It was much needed,” Detroit forward Marcus Morris told reporters after pouring in 17 points in the victory. “We had to have it just to build some type of momentum going back home. We got three tough games coming up next week, so it was one of those we needed bad.” The Pistons have kept all four home opponents under 90 points and it won’t be easy to extend that streak to five against Russell Westbrook and the high-octane Thunder, who have averaged 109 points in three straight losses. Westbrook recorded his 40th career triple-double on Sunday as Oklahoma City suffered its first loss in the last 21 games in which he accomplished the feat, falling 119-117 to Orlando. This is the only road contest for the Thunder (2-1 away record) in a span of nine overall games.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Oklahoma (Oklahoma City), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE THUNDER (6-4): The shine of a 6-1 start has faded a bit with consecutive losses at home to Toronto, the Los Angeles Clippers and Orlando in which Oklahoma City allowed an average of 113.7 points. Westbrook pushed his season averages to 31.9 points, 10.1 assists and 9.2 rebounds after joining LeBron James as the only active players to record 40 career triple-doubles. Guard Victor Oladipo is second on the team in scoring (15.8) while centers Enes Kanter (12.4) and Steven Adams (10.5) also average in double figures.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (5-5): Detroit has been balanced in the scoring department all season with point guard Reggie Jackson still recovering from a knee injury. Tobias Harris led the way with 19 points on Saturday and tops the Pistons at 16.5 overall while Morris is next at 15.2 and inside force Andre Drummond averages 14.9 points to go along with 14.3 rebounds, which rank him second in the league. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has scored in double figures in seven of his last eight games after a slow start in which he totaled nine in the first two contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Oklahoma City’s 6-11 rookie F Domantas Sabonis has drained at least one 3-pointer in six of his last seven games.
2. The Pistons ranked 24th in scoring (97.7 points) entering Sunday’s games but were fourth in points allowed (97).
3. The teams split a pair of meetings last season, with each winning on its home court.