Pistons at Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are showing signs of life after a dreadful start and look for their third victory in the past four games when they host the Detroit Pistons. The Mavericks split their last six contests following a 3-15 start and rolled to a 112-92 home win over the Denver Nuggets on Monday.
Dallas played its best overall game of the season versus the Nuggets, leading by as many as 28 points and shooting a season-best 58.4 percent from the field. "That's how we're supposed to play," suddenly hot shooting guard Wesley Matthews told reporters. "Now it's just about harnessing that, trying to get a string and run off a couple of wins." Detroit is coming off a woeful effort in which it trailed by 25 points in the second quarter en route to suffering an embarrassing 97-79 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. "We didn't even play," Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson told reporters of Sunday's defeat. "I can't say we played to the level of the competition. We didn't play for a whole half."
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (13-13): Forward Marcus Morris was the lone player to experience a solid game in the loss to Philadelphia by scoring a season-high 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Morris drained four 3-pointers and is a solid 18-of-33 from behind the arc in six games this month, but he wasn't the least bit happy due to the poor showing. "It was embarrassing, man. We've played way tougher teams that came in here and took care of business," Morris told reporters. "That's embarrassing on all of our parts. I don't know what the reason was. It's just embarrassing to our fans, to the organization. We came out and just basically laid down."
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (6-18): Matthews connected on 10-of-14 shots while scoring 25 points against Denver and knocked down five 3-pointers for the third consecutive contest. The 30-year-old got off to a slow start this season but is now in a groove by averaging 25.7 points over the past three games and scoring 25 or more points in four of the last six outings. "My teammates are finding me and I'm getting good looks," Matthews said after Monday's win. "I put a lot of emphasis this year on working hard on my shot after practice. I'm a product of energy and when we are playing the right way and we are locked in I feel like I can knock down shots."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Pistons won their past two visits to Dallas after losing their previous six trips.
2. Dallas SF Harrison Barnes scored in double digits in every game and tallied at least 20 points on 12 occasions.
3. Detroit SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (knee) is expected back in the lineup after a one-game absence.