Pistons at Suns
The Detroit Pistons are trying to secure the No. 6 spot in the Eastern Conference but suffered a big letdown with a loss to the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers in the opener of a five-game road trip on Monday. The Pistons will try to avoid a similar fate against another team well out of contention when they visit the Western Conference-worst Phoenix Suns on Thursday.
Detroit, which will face West contenders Portland, Golden State and Denver in the final three stops of the trip, matched a season high in regulation points allowed in the 126-119 setback to the Cavaliers. "Defensively, our physicality, them feeling us, was not (there)," Pistons coach Dwane Casey told reporters. "I don't care who it is, allow them to shoot 58.2 percent from the floor, you're not going to beat anybody. Our defensive thought process, execution, whatever the word you want to use, defensively, was not there. Totally disappointed in myself, in our team and all of us, anybody in that locker room." Phoenix is heading for the draft lottery but had been playing well of late before dropping a 116-101 decision at home to the Chicago Bulls on Monday. "I have no doubt that the much better team won the game," Suns coach Igor Kokoskov told reporters after the loss. "They overworked us, overplayed us in almost every segment of the game. Right from the jump ball, they set the tone, they sent the message."
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS Detroit-Plus, FS Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (36-34): Detroit was coming off a home win over the Toronto Raptors when it suffered the letdown against the Cavaliers, and Casey would like his team to do a better job of handling the pressure. "A journey to the playoffs isn't easy," Casey told reporters. "It's not easy. There's pressure. There's physical pressure. There's mental pressure and we got to fight through it all as a team. When you let up, no matter what the other organization's goals are, how they've been playing, what their record is ... Anybody getting paid twice a month can step up and beat you and I don't think we came out with a healthy enough amount of respect for (the Cavaliers) that we needed." The Pistons gave All-Star forward Blake Griffin the night off to rest on Monday but expect to have him back against Phoenix.
ABOUT THE SUNS (17-55): Phoenix won six of 10 capped by a 138-136 overtime triumph in New Orleans on Saturday before opening the two-game homestand with a dud against the Bulls. Star guard Devin Booker, who scored 40 points against the Pelicans, poured in 25 on Monday but was 9-of-24 from the floor, including 1-of-9 from 3-point range. "We were getting the looks we wanted, we were just missing them," Booker told reporters. "Especially early on. I don't really know how to express that, just missing them. Nights like that, we try to do it in other ways, speed up the game and get more aggressive and we fell up short."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pistons C Andre Drummond collected 21 points and 21 rebounds on Monday to mark his 12th 20-20 outing of the season.
2. Suns SF Kelly Oubre Jr. (thumb) sat out Monday and is day-to-day.
3. Griffin collected 16 points and 11 assists in Detroit's 118-107 home win over Phoenix on Nov. 25.