Spurs at Pistons
The San Antonio Spurs are quietly one of the hottest teams in the NBA with wins in four straight and 12 of their last 15 games as they begin to sneak up the Western Conference standings. The Spurs will try to stay sharp when they begin a stretch with seven of 10 on the road by visiting the Detroit Pistons on Monday.
San Antonio ripped through a three-game homestand with wins over Boston, Toronto and Memphis, capped by Saturday's 108-88 drubbing of the Grizzlies. "They're just relentless," Memphis small forward and former Spur Kyle Anderson told reporters. "They've got high-character guys over there. They didn't get off to a good start, but they stuck with it as a team and they're obviously doing well right now, so that's going to pay off." The Pistons went the opposite way and followed up a hot start to the season with a slow decline that has them 4-13 over the last 17 contests, including a 110-105 home loss to Utah on Saturday in which they held an 18-point lead after the first quarter. "Great teams go from an 18-point lead to a 28-point lead, 25, and they keep it there," Detroit forward Blake Griffin told reporters. "We just haven't gotten to that level yet where we put our foot on people's throats and don't let up. That's the next step for us."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (San Antonio), FS Detroit
ABOUT THE SPURS (23-17): San Antonio tends to focus its offense around DeMar DeRozan, LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Gay, but point guard Derrick White stepped up to join that trio during the homestand. White, who averages 7.6 points on 47.3 percent shooting, averaged 20 points in the three wins while going 24-of-29 from the floor, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range. White is forming a solid combination at the point guard spot with veteran reserve Patty Mills, who scored in double figures in each of the three games of the homestand and knocked down 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in Saturday's triumph.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (17-20): Detroit committed 14 of its 18 turnovers in the second half on Saturday and let the first-quarter lead dry up quickly as the second unit struggled. "Utah's one of those teams - they're so well coached," Griffin told reporters. "They just have veteran guys who've been in playoff situations. They just grind it. Early on, we did a good job of getting in their air space, making it tough for them to get in the paint and get easy shots. And they just kept at it. Turnovers at the end killed us." Griffin was the bright spot with 34 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and is averaging 29.7 points over the last three contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pistons C Zaza Pachulia (leg) sat out the last three games and is day-to-day.
2. DeRozan is averaging 10.8 rebounds over the last four games.
3. Detroit snapped a six-game losing streak in the series with a 93-79 home victory in the last meeting on Dec. 30, 2017.