Nets at Pistons
Life has been grand for the Detroit Pistons since Blake Griffin arrived and they will look to stay perfect with the star forward in the lineup when they continue a long homestand against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday. The Pistons have won four in a row - three since acquiring Griffin in a blockbuster trade with the Los Angeles Clippers - and have a chance to move over .500 for the first time in roughly three weeks.
Griffin scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Andre Drummond had 17 and 17 in a 111-91 rout of Portland on Monday as Detroit came within one victory of matching its longest winning streak of the season. "It can only get better from here," Drummond told reporters of his rapport with Griffin. "He's doing a great job of adjusting right now. We didn't really understand what was going to happen when we first got him. We didn't know how long it was going to take for him to adjust, but him being the professional that he is, he adjusted very quickly." Griffin, who is averaging 20.3 points and 9.3 rebounds with the Pistons, will face his former team when the Clippers visit Detroit on Friday to finish the six-game homestand. He will first take aim at an injury-ravaged Brooklyn squad that has lost three in a row after Tuesday's 123-113 loss to Houston at home.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), FS Detroit
ABOUT THE NETS (19-36): DeMarre Carroll scored 21 points and Spencer Dinwiddie - a former Piston who beat his old team with a basket with 1.1 seconds left in the previous meeting at Detroit on Jan. 21 - added 18 and nine assists in the loss to the Rockets, with both players hitting five 3-pointers. Fellow guard Caris LeVert was knocked from the game and is undergoing evaluation for a concussion after running into a hard pick late in the third quarter. "I think it moved all of us," coach Kenny Atkinson said of the injury to LeVert. "I think we're all affected, but we're professionals and guys moved on, it's just we obviously missed Caris the player."
ABOUT THE PISTONS (26-26): Drummond has not missed a beat with another force alongside him underneath, as he and Griffin appear to be a perfect pairing. The All-Star center is averaging 18 points, 17.3 rebounds, three assists, 2.7 blocks and 2.7 steals since Griffin came aboard, and his string of double-doubles is now up to a season-high seven. Backup guard Langston Galloway has made the most of some increased playing time with back-to-back 13-point efforts, and he had a season-high six assists against Portland.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Drummond had 22 points and 20 rebounds in a 34-point win at Brooklyn last month.
2. Nets SF Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (groin) has missed six consecutive contests and SF Quincy Acy, who was starting in place of Hollis-Jefferson, sat out Tuesday's loss due to a finger injury.
3. Pistons C Willie Reed, who was acquired along with Griffin in the trade with the Clippers, was suspended six games without pay by the league for a domestic violence incident in August.