Lakers at Pistons
The Detroit Pistons have absorbed back-to-back brutal beatings and attempt to bounce back when they host the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. Detroit has averaged just 74.5 points while being whipped by margins of 28 and 34 points in consecutive road games and the poor outings follow a stretch in which the Pistons won 12 of 14 games.
Detroit scored just eight third-quarter points and 25 in the second half of Wednesday's 108-74 loss to the Miami Heat, two nights after dropping a 103-75 decision to the Brooklyn Nets. "It's about our mental fortitude and coming out and having a better mindset at the beginning of games, myself included," Pistons power forward Blake Griffin told reporters. "I'm not excluding myself from that at all. If we have any fight about us at all we'll come out and rectify that." Who knows how much fight the Lakers will put up on the second end of a back-to-back after dropping a 111-98 decision to the Toronto Raptors on Thursday. Los Angeles has lost eight of its past 10 games and the unraveling leaves the club 7 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Clippers for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Spectrum SportsNet (Los Angeles), FS Detroit
ABOUT THE LAKERS (31-37): Forward LeBron James scored 29 points against Toronto but only played 32 minutes as his playing time was reduced for the fourth straight game with the playoffs being a slim possibility. The season has become a large disappointment for the franchise but James said after the loss to Toronto that the poor campaign won't prevent free agents from choosing the Lakers this summer. "I don't think it changes. I think everybody knew it would be challenging," James told reporters. "We were a team built on depth and when you continue to have injuries, you depth is not as you would like it to be. We have an opportunity to get better this summer through free agency and the draft and I believe the front office and our coaching staff will make that happen."
ABOUT THE PISTONS (34-33): Detroit coach Dwane Casey is miffed at the collapses as his club sits seventh in Eastern Conference playoff race with not much margin for error. "For two games in a row now, we didn't come out in playoff mode," Casey told reporters. "There's nothing schematically. There's nothing X-and-O wise. It's our approach. We have to understand at this time of year ... the only thing you can do is scrap and play hard." Center Andre Drummond had five points and nine rebounds against Miami to snap his double-double streak at 19, leaving him tied for the franchise mark with Hall of Famer Bob Lanier (1974-75).
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Lakers SF Kyle Kuzma scored 41 points to lead the team to a 113-100 home win over the Pistons on Jan. 9.
2. Los Angeles C Tyson Chandler (neck) is expected to miss his sixth straight game.
3. Detroit PG Reggie Jackson (ankle) is questionable after being injured Wednesday.