Pistons at Nets
The Detroit Pistons have surged past Brooklyn in the Eastern Conference playoff race and can try to put some distance between the two squads when they visit the Nets on Monday. A 131-108 rout of the Chicago Bulls on Sunday was the fifth straight victory for the Pistons and their 12th in the last 14 games.
Blake Griffin scored 28 points in 27 minutes for Detroit, which has gone from ninth place - two games out of a playoff spot and 4 1/2 behind Brooklyn - in the East to sixth place and a half-game up on the Nets during the surge. "That was what we were hoping," coach Dwane Casey told reporters when asked about the easy win allowing him to rest Griffin down the stretch. "We're not in a situation right now where we can do so-called load management and just have him have games off because every game is important for us. What we can do is try to manage his minutes and games like today help us do that." Brooklyn has kept pace of late with three straight victories, all over non-playoff contenders. They rode Spencer Dinwiddie's 23 points to a 114-112 victory at Atlanta on Saturday and are averaging 118 points during the winning streak.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Detroit, YES (Brooklyn)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (34-31): Reserve Langston Galloway is on a historic shooting stretch for Detroit with 12 consecutive made 3-pointers, including a 6-for-6 effort en route to 21 points in Sunday's win. "Just stay confident, keep on shooting my shot and glad coach gave me the opportunity," Galloway told Fox Sports Detroit postgame. "We're winning. That's all that matters." Galloway is one shy of matching Terry Mills' team mark of 13 straight made triples set in 1996.
ABOUT THE NETS (35-33): Brooklyn shot 38.4 percent from the floor and just 61.1 percent at the foul line, but a season-high 54 attempts from the charity stripe helped the squad survive in Atlanta. "Honestly, we just got enough stops, just barely enough stops," Dinwiddie told reporters. "We gave up a lot and we missed a lot of free throws that made it harder on ourselves than it really needed to be." Center Jarrett Allen notched his second straight double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds, and the 20-year-old is 32-for-42 from the floor over his last seven games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Dinwiddie scored 25 points - including a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of overtime - to lift the Nets to a 120-119 win in the previous meeting Oct. 31 at home.
2. Pistons C Andre Drummond was 6-for-6 from the floor Sunday while recording his 18th straight double-double.
3. Brooklyn SG Allen Crabbe is 4-of-22 from 3-point range over his last four games.