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Detroit Pistons look to start road trip on positive note against Brooklyn Nets

By Justin Prince

Mar 19, 2017; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy talks to guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (5) during the fourth quarter against the Phoenix Suns at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 19, 2017; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy talks to guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (5) during the fourth quarter against the Phoenix Suns at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports /
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With the NBA playoff race coming down to the wire, the Detroit Pistons are set to face the Brooklyn Nets in what could be a make-or-break road trip.

The Detroit Pistons (34-36) stopped a three-game losing streak this past Sunday against the short-handed Phoenix Suns in dominating fashion. That victory helped put the Pistons back into a tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference with the Miami Heat.

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The Pistons will be looking to avenge their 109-101 loss to the Brooklyn Nets (13-56) back in November.

In that game, center Andre Drummond struggled, scoring just six points while his Nets counterpart, Brook Lopez, recorded 34.

While the Pistons were able to almost come back in the second half that game, they had also allowed the Nets to make 71 per cent of their first half shots.

Fast forward to March 2017. The Pistons have had a lot of slow starts on offense in their most recent games. Detroit has averaged 18.7 points in the first quarter in their past three games, according to TeamRankings.com.

Brooklyn has averaged 23.3 points in that same stretch.

Tonight could also help set the tone for the rest of Detroit’s season and their playoff hopes.

Heading into tonight, Detroit will have the second-easiest remaining schedule in the league, according to NBA.com’s John Schuhmann. Of their final 12 games, eight of them will be against opponents with records under .500:

In most cases, that would be good news for an NBA franchise.

Detroit is not in the clear yet though – they will have to play eight of those 12 games away from the Palace of Auburn Hills.

The Pistons have struggled away from home this year with an 11-22 record, the third-worst in the league.

The teams they are better than on the road? The Philadelphia 76ers and the Nets.

Detroit will be facing the Nets, the Chicago Bulls, the Orlando Magic and the New York Knicks on their current road trip.

Per the Detroit Free Press’s Vince Ellis:

"“We’ve got to figure it out,” point guard Ish Smith said Sunday. “We’ve got these four games coming up, but you’ve got to start with the first one. Brooklyn gave us a tough time in the preseason and then they beat us in the regular season. We know that’s not going to be easy.”"

Tonight is a must-win situation for the Pistons. If they want to hold onto the eighth seed, they need to beat the Nets. If Detroit loses, the Heat can move into the spot with a victory over the Suns.

Also, if the Milwaukee Bucks lose to the Portland Trail Blazers, Detroit can move as high as seventh place in the Eastern Conference tonight with a win.

If the Pistons want to beat the Nets, they will need exactly what has helped them as a whole in their most recent victories – good ball movement, energy and solid defense (ranked eighth in the NBA in defensive rating, according to basketball-reference.com).

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If they can have all three of those keys come together at the Barclays Center tonight, it can help set the tone for the rest of their road trip heading into their major match-up against the Heat at the Palace next week.

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