Trail Blazers at Pistons
The Detroit Pistons look to post their 11th consecutive home victory when they host the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday. The stretch of home wins is Detroit's best run since it captured 16 straight during the 2005-06 season.
The Pistons are 24-13 at Little Caesars Arena thanks to the hot stretch and reside in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with seven games remaining. Detroit is 1 1/2 games clear of ninth-place Orlando after posting a 115-98 home win over the Magic on Thursday. Portland has posted a season-best six straight victories after rolling to a 118-98 triumph in Atlanta on Friday. The Trail Blazers have won nine of their last 10 contests and reside in third place in the Western Conference, one-half game ahead of Houston.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCS Northwest (Portland), FS Detroit
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (48-27): Portland has opened a four-game road trip with identical 118-98 victories in Chicago and Atlanta in the wake of losing Jusuf Nurkic for the season due to a broken leg while CJ McCollum remains sidelined with a knee ailment. "I just like the fact that we continue to roll," All-Star point guard Damian Lillard told reporters after Friday's win. "Obviously, CJ being out is a blow and Nurkic being out is a blow, but we haven't used it as a crutch or excuse. We haven't put our heads down and pouted about it. We just kept working and kept going after it." Lillard scored 36 points against the Hawks and has registered five 30-point performances in his last seven games.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (38-37): Veteran guard Wayne Ellington has given Detroit an outside shooting threat as he matched season bests of 25 points and seven 3-pointers in the win over Orlando. Ellington has scored a total of 63 points and averaged 11.3 in 21 games since joining Detroit, and coach Dwane Casey is thrilled with the production. "I was jumping up and down when I found out we had a chance to sign Wayne," Casey told reporters of a player who received a buyout from Phoenix after being acquired from Miami in February. "I remember all the times he's killed me in the playoffs for a bunch of different teams, and he was magnificent (against Orlando)."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Lillard recorded 28 points and nine assists as the Trail Blazers posted a 117-112 home victory over the Pistons on March 23.
2. Portland SF Maurice Harkless is just 9-for-31 from the field over his last three games.
3. Detroit C Andre Drummond collected 18 points and 18 rebounds against Orlando for his eighth straight double-double and 63rd of the season.