Detroit Pistons (12-20) vs. Spurs (12-18)
When, where: Saturday, 7:30 p.m., AT&T Center
TV: KENS 5, 7 p.m.
All-time series record: Spurs lead 58-35
Last season: Spurs won 2-0
Season series: Pistons lead 1-0
Last meeting: Pistons 132, Spurs 98, Dec. 1, Detroit
Pistons' last game: Beat Washington Wizards 132-102, Thursday, Detroit
Spurs' last game: Lost to Mavericks 102-98, Thursday, Dallas
Pistons' last 10 games/streak: 4-6, won one
Spurs' last 10 games/streak: 5-5, lost one
Pistons' injury/inactive report: Guard Jordan Bone (G League), out; forward Sekou Doumbouya (body; illness), out; center Andre Drummond (left calf; contusion), probable; guard Reggie Jackson (left lumbar spine; stress reaction), out; guard Luke Kennard (bilateral knee; tendinitis), out; forward Markief Morris (left foot; sprain), out; guard Khyri Thomas (right foot; surgery), out.
Spurs' injury/inactive report: Forward Drew Eubanks (G League), out; guard/forward Keldon Johnson (G League), out; forward Chimezie Metu (G League), out; forward Luke Samanic (G League), out; guard Quindarry Weatherspoon (G League), out.
Notable: Saturday night's game will be broadcast by KENS 5, the Official Television Station of the San Antonio Spurs. The pregame show starts at 7. After playing the Pistons, the Silver and Black end the year at home against the Golden State Warriors on New Year's Eve . . . The 34-point loss at Detroit on Dec. 1 is the most lopsided defeat of the season for the Spurs.
GAME PREVIEW
While not exactly mirror images of each other, the Detroit Pistons and the Spurs are having remarkably similar seasons.
Plagued by inconsistency, each has won 12 games and struggled to gain traction in the first half of the season. Detroit has lost two more games than San Antonio, but the Pistons routed the Spurs 132-98 in their first meeting Dec. 1 in the Motor City.
The 34-point loss is the most lopsided defeat of the season for the Silver and Black (12-18), who open a three-game homestand Saturday night against the Pistons (12-20). The game will be broadcast by KENS 5, the Official Television Station of the San Antonio Spurs.
The Silver and Black are coming off a 102-98 loss to Mavericks on Thursday in Dallas. That the Mavs won by only four is surprising, considering they made twice as many three-pointers (16-8) as the Spurs.
Ahead 79-74 after three quarters, Dallas broke away by hitting 7 of 9 three-pointers at the start of the final period.
But the Spurs didn't go quietly. Trailing 102-85, they made the Mavs squirm by scoring the game's final 13 points. The game wasn't decided until Derrick White missed a three-pointer with six seconds left.
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich had good things to say about his team's fight after the loss.
“Well they made 16 threes and scored 102 points, so I feel great about that," he said. "Our three best shooters were 0-13, and often times in these NBA games now, that’s the deal. You don’t have to look anywhere else.
"We made mistakes, they made mistakes, but we competed the whole night. I was really pleased with that and actually feel pretty good. You have to make shots. We didn’t, and they had that little barrage and made six in a row and that was the game.”
Spurs forward DeMar DeRozan also found some positives in the loss.
"We held me to 102 points and in today's NBA, when you hold a team anywhere close to 100, you give yourself a great chance to win every single night," he said. "It was just a matter of us giving up the run we gave up, and not making shots.”
The Spurs, who already have lost eight home games, are one defeat from falling below .500 at the AT&T Center this season. That's quite a comedown for a team that only four years ago lost only once at home, tying the NBA record.
