Thunder at Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are sliding out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference and are losers of six in a row, including the first three of a four-game homestand. The Pistons will try to avoid being swept on that homestand when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday.
Detroit, which plays at Cleveland on Sunday before returning home for six straight, is struggling to take advantage of teams below it in the standings and suffered a 101-100 loss to Brooklyn on Sunday before falling 98-95 in overtime to the Utah Jazz on Wednesday. "They're all difficult. Whenever you come out of that game on the losing side, no matter how it happens, it's never fun," Pistons forward Anthony Tolliver told reporters. "It's never fun to take that, but especially being in regulation and being in position where we are in a really good position, where we couldn't get anything going down the stretch. They made some big plays and forced us into overtime. It's tough, but to get one win in this league is not easy. Nothing is going to be handed to us. We've just got to go get it." The Thunder are streaking in the opposite direction with wins in six straight games behind Russell Westbrook. The reigning MVP scored a season-high 46 points in a 121-112 win over Washington on Thursday.
TV: 5 p.m. ET, FS Oklahoma, FS Detroit
ABOUT THE THUNDER (28-20): Westbrook, who also owns a 20-assist game during the current winning streak, went 19-of-29 from the floor on Thursday and continues to amaze his teammates. "Sometimes you get caught staring a little bit and I've gotta remind myself, 'I am on a team with somebody else that can do that,'" Carmelo Anthony told reporters of Westbrook. "Do some of the things that you've been doing or you're capable of doing or you've been doing throughout your whole career. For me to be on the same side as that and not have to go after it every night and just kind of take what the other team is giving us, it's a beauty to watch. Especially when it's working, when it's clicking, especially now when we're winning games." Westbrook is not quite at his triple-double pace from last season but is still averaging 25.4 points, 9.9 assists and 9.5 rebounds.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (22-24): Westbrook will be going to the All-Star Game next month, but he won’t be joined by Detroit center Andre Drummond, who was one of the more notable snubs from the Eastern Conference. Drummond responded by collecting 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting, 24 rebounds and six blocks in Wednesday's loss, but the rest of the team shot 33.8 percent from the floor. Small forward Tobias Harris leads the team in scoring at an average of 18 points but is shooting just 37.2 percent from the field during the six-game slide, including 6-of-31 from 3-point range.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pistons SG Avery Bradley is 6-of-23 from the floor over the last two games.
2. Thunder C Steven Adams recorded a double-double in five of the last six contests.
3. Westbrook recorded a triple-double with 27 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists but Oklahoma City still dropped a 99-98 home decision to Detroit on Nov. 24.