Pistons at Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs limped to the end of their annual rodeo road trip and return home a team fighting to stay in the top eight of the Western Conference. The Spurs, who went 1-7 on the eight-game excursion that bridged the All-Star break, return to host the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.
Two of the worst performances on the trip came in the last two games, when San Antonio dropped a 130-118 decision at the lowly New York Knicks and then shot 36.5 percent in a 101-85 setback at the Brooklyn Nets. "We show spurts when we can play and beat anybody in this league, but then we go out there and lose to a team that is one of the worst teams in the league like (Sunday against the Knicks)," Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan told reporters. "The rollercoaster ride of it is so high and so low. We've got to find that balance and really level off these last 20 games." San Antonio is returning home to face a red-hot Pistons team that checked off its seventh win in eight games by beating the Indiana Pacers 113-109 on Monday. "I talked before the break, we were playing our basketball," All-Star forward Blake Griffin told reporters. "We were executing our principles that we've gone over since day one of training camp. We were taking care of the ball, playing basketball the right way, extra passes, the right passes, taking shots when we're supposed to. That brand of basketball has made us successful. We beat some good teams playing that type of basketball, so it's about us. And in this stretch, it's been about us."
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, FS Detroit, FS Southwest (San Antonio)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (29-30): One factor in Detroit's surge has been the improved play of shooting guard Luke Kennard, who scored 19 points in Monday's win and is 16-of-27 from the floor in three games since the All-Star break. "We're being aggressive," Kennard told reporters. "The pace has been great. Our point guards have gotten the ball up the floor really fast for us. The pace opens the floor up and we've got guys ready to shoot, being aggressive to shoot the ball. And they want us to shoot. We have any kind of space, they want us to shoot. That's what we've been doing, and we've got to continue it." Leading the charge is Griffin, who recorded a triple-double on Monday with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
ABOUT THE SPURS (33-29): All-Star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points on 12-of-21 shooting and DeRozan went for 23 on 9-of-14 against Brooklyn on Monday, but the rest of the team was a combined 14-of-61 from the floor. "Guys are not happy, (they're) frustrated, want to win and want to do the things to win," Aldridge told reporters. "So, it's on us, no one's going to save us. We've got to figure it out ourselves." San Antonio went 4-of-24 from 3-point range in the loss while letting the Nets bury 19 from beyond the arc.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Pistons are trying to reach .500 for the first time since they were 16-16 after a win over Washington on Dec. 26.
2. Spurs SG Bryn Forbes is 3-of-21 from 3-point range over the last four games.
3. San Antonio earned a 119-107 win at Detroit on Jan. 7, when Aldridge and DeRozan combined for 51 points.