Suns at Pistons
The Detroit Pistons played their way into the top eight in the Eastern Conference last weekend but played themselves back out with three straight losses this week. The Pistons will try to bounce back and keep the pressure on the Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat at the bottom of the East playoff bracket when they host the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.
Detroit is averaging 84.7 points during its three-game slide and shot 34.9 percent from the field in an 87-75 home loss to the Toronto Raptors on Friday to fall a game behind eighth-place Miami. "Not panicking," point guard Reggie Jackson told reporters of the team's state of mind. "Thirteen games left. I know in my mind, we’re bound to make (a run). I plan to be in the playoffs and keep chasing it each and every day. Look at the glass half full: We played well on defense tonight. So I’ll take that out of it. Just couldn’t get a win because the ball just didn’t want to go in the rim for us. Somebody will take the lid off of it eventually for us." The Suns are accelerating a youth movement and shut down leading scorer Eric Bledsoe for the remainder of the regular season this week, sidelining him along with fellow veterans Tyson Chandler and Brandon Knight. Phoenix dropped its last three games - the past two without Bledsoe - and begins a six-game road trip on Sunday.
TV: 4:30 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona (Phoenix), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE SUNS (22-47): Phoenix is playing for the future at this point, with both player development and draft position in mind, and is getting strong results from several of its youngsters. Rookie point guard Tyler Ulis took over Bledsoe's starting spot and played an average of 39.5 minutes in the last two games while posting averages of 16 points and 10.5 assists. "He's getting better and better," Suns coach Earl Watson told reporters of Ulis after a 109-103 loss to Orlando on Friday. "He had some early turnovers. He was playing them for the pocket pass, and he's learning right now in the NBA you can't come out and play the same game every game as a point guard."
ABOUT THE PISTONS (33-36): Detroit lost the last three games by a total of 58 points but does not seem discouraged with the schedule winding down. "Tomorrow, we’ll get back at it," reserve point guard Ish Smith told the team's website after Friday's setback. "You've got to be optimistic. It's easy to beat yourself up when you’re down. It’s easy to feel really good when you’re making shots. What we have to do is continue to stay level-headed. When things are going well, stay level-headed. When things are going bad, stay level-headed. We’ll come out of this." The Pistons will not play another team with a current winning record for the rest of the month.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Detroit PF Marcus Morris is 4-of-28 from the field over the last two games.
2. Suns SF T.J. Warren is averaging 25 points on 20-of-29 shooting in the last two contests.
3. Phoenix snapped a three-game losing streak in the series with a 107-100 home win on Nov. 9.