Pistons look to bounce back against the Sixers

Feb 28, 2017; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Ish Smith (14) and forward Marcus Morris (13) celebrate after a play during overtime against the Portland Trail Blazers at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Pistons won 120-113 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 28, 2017; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Ish Smith (14) and forward Marcus Morris (13) celebrate after a play during overtime against the Portland Trail Blazers at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Pistons won 120-113 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

After splitting their first two games, the Detroit Pistons travel to Philadelphia to play the Sixers for the third and final time this regular season.

The Detroit Pistons are clinging onto the 8th seed in the East but have both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat trailing by just 1.5 games with just 21 remaining. Both the Bucks and the Heat face tough games at home against the Toronto Raptors and the Cleveland Cavaliers respectively.

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The short handed Sixers will be missing the likes of Jerryd Bayless, Joel Embiid, Gerald Henderson, Ben Simmons and Tiago Splitter due to injury, several of them season ending.

The Sixers playing will be playing their third game in four nights including the second night of a back-to-back. They beat the New York Knicks last night ending a three game losing streak.

The Pistons on the other hand are arriving at the Wells Fargo Center on the back of a three days without games after seeing two of their previous four games go to overtime.

In six encounters against the Sixers over the previous two seasons, Marcus Morris has averaged over 18 points per game while shooting just over 50% from the field.

The recent form of starting point guard Reggie Jackson has led coach Stan Van Gundy to contemplate replacing him in the starting lineup with backup Ish Smith. Duncan Smith covers this in detail here.

The bookmakers have listed the Pistons as five-point favorites in a must-win game to increase their advantage against the teams outside of the playoffs looking in.