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Detroit Pistons vs Portland Trail Blazers Preview

By Anthony Morgan

Mar 6, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (34) celebrates after a three point shot in the fourth quarter as Portland Trail Blazers forward Al-Farouq Aminu (8) follows at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The Pistons defeated the 123-103. Mandatory Credit: Leon Halip-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 6, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (34) celebrates after a three point shot in the fourth quarter as Portland Trail Blazers forward Al-Farouq Aminu (8) follows at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The Pistons defeated the 123-103. Mandatory Credit: Leon Halip-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Detroit Pistons (17-21) travel to Portland to play the Trail Blazers (16-22) on the back of almost blowing a 19 point lead against the Charlotte Hornets.

Despite the win, the Detroit Pistons will be disappointed with the fourth quarter showing against the Charlotte Hornets and will be looking to make amends. The Pistons had a 19 point advantage with 10 minutes to play and held on after Marco Belinelli hit an unbelievable three-point shot that, fortunately for the Pistons, wasn’t released before the buzzer.

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The Portland Trail Blazers on the other hand welcomed back star point guard Damian Lillard who led them to a convincing win against the Los Angeles Lakers. Lillard finished with 21 points and 10 assists after missing the previous five games due to an Achilles injury.

Both teams have struggled of late winning just three of their last ten games. Both have slipped just outside of a playoff position and will be looking to use this game to make a run back into the top 8 of their respective conferences.

The Blazers have score 117 and 118 points in their previous two outings and will be looking to maintain that offensive firepower against the Pistons who have given up 111 points per game over the last five games. The Pistons haven’t kept an opponent to under 90 points since December 14th after doing so in four of their first six games of the season.

The key to this game might be the back courts. The return of Damian Lillard from injury slightly favors the Blazers in that regard. However, it seems that Reggie Jackson is finally returning to form after a disappointing return after missing the first 21 games of the season. He is averaging 22 points and nearly 9 assists over the past four games and the Pistons will need every bit of that production to be competitive.

Aron Baynes remains questionable for the Pistons but after Boban Marjanovic‘s strong performance against the Hornets it will be interesting to see what coach Stan Van Gundy does if Baynes is deemed fit to play.

Next: Boban mania has officially arrived for the Detroit Pistons

The bookmakers listed Portland as 2.5 point favorites in what looks on paper a high scoring encounter.

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