Pacers at Pistons
The fight the Indiana Pacers showed before the break after All-Star Victor Oladipo was lost for the season carried through the layoff with two straight wins. The Pacers will try to make it three straight when they visit the similarly surging Detroit Pistons on Monday.
Indiana is holding its own among the powers in the Eastern Conference and sits in third place after coming out of the break with wins over the New Orleans Pelicans and Washington Wizards, giving it eight wins in the last nine contests. "One thing we have been all year long is resilient," Pacers forward Thaddeus Young told reporters after helping his team hold off a late challenge in the 119-112 win over the Wizards. "We continue to fight, continue to fight through adversity. We believe in our brotherhood." The Pistons are fighting for a postseason spot and moved themselves into seventh in the East by earning a pair of road wins out of the break and checking off victories in six of the last seven overall. "The theme of the past several weeks has been about us," All-Star forward Blake Griffin told reporters after a 119-96 triumph at Miami on Saturday. "The way we've played has been unbelievable. We just played with the right spirit. We got stops on the defensive end and got a couple of easy baskets and then once that happened you had guys hit shots and get hot."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Indiana, FS Detroit
ABOUT THE PACERS (40-20): Indiana is winning with a full team effort since Oladipo went down and placed seven scorers in double figures while shooting 56.6 percent from the floor and handing out 29 assists in Saturday's triumph. Young led the way with 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting while shooting guard Wesley Matthews chipped in 14 points on 5-of-9 from the floor in his fourth game with the Pacers. "Down the stretch we knocked a few free throws, a couple guys made a couple key shots and we were able to get ourselves a comfortable lead, where we could finish the game," Young told reporters.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (28-30): Detroit went 13-7 in the first 20 games before dropping 16 of the next 20 to fall out of the top eight in the East and is trying not to let that happen again. "We still have a long way and a lot of basketball to be played," coach Dwane Casey told reporters. "We have to stay focused. We are doing pretty well right now. We have to maintain our focus. We have a tough team coming into our home on Monday and we have to be focused for that." The Pistons are getting strong play from their second unit of late and watched Luke Kennard, Ish Smith and Langston Galloway combine to go 20-of-27 from the floor on Saturday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pistons C Andre Drummond recorded a double-double in each of the 11 games.
2. Pacers SG Bojan Bogdanovic is shooting 54.3 percent from the floor in nine games this month.
3. Indiana earned a 125-88 home win in the first meeting of the season while shooting 60.9 percent from the floor on Dec. 28.