Detroit Next Stop On Strong Road Trip

Rowan Kavner

BIRMINGHAM, Mich. – Sharing is not only caring when the Clippers take on the Pistons on Wednesday night.

It may also be the key to winning, as a Clippers (8-5) team that’s eighth in the league in assists tries to go to 4-1 this road trip against a Detroit (3-11) team that hasn’t been sharing this holiday season, sitting second to last in the league in assists and in the midst of a five-game losing streak.

“We’re definitely on the right path,” Jamal Crawford said in Charlotte after bouncing back from a loss to Memphis. “But I think just the consistency of doing it every single night, no matter what’s happening; then I’ll know we’re working through it. It’s still early and we have to see what happens.”

The Pistons have played one more game than the Clippers, yet they’ve got 49 fewer assists on the season. The talent is present in Detroit, with five players averaging in double figures and forward Greg Monroe averaging a double-double, but they’ve failed to put up points or share the ball, scoring fewer than 90 points in four of their past five games.

Four of the Clippers’ five starters are shooting better than 44 percent this year, while only Monroe is shooting better than 44 percent among the Pistons’ starters.

The Clippers will attempt to demonstrate they’re past most of their early season struggles and letdowns. Their only loss thus far on the road trip came to a Memphis team that now shares the lead for the best record in basketball.

“We still have our lulls and stuff like that, but the rest of this road trip will be a good test for us to see if we can keep rolling,” said guard Chris Paul.

LAST TIME OUT

Clippers 113, Hornets 92: The Clippers bounced back from the first loss of the road trip by answering in a major way in Charlotte. Blake Griffin finished one assist short of a triple-double, gathering a season-high 16 rebounds and scoring 22 points. Chris Paul also had 22 points, dishing out a season-high 15 assists.

Bucks 98, Pistons 86: A one-point game at halftime got out of hand for the Pistons in the third quarter, when the Bucks outscored them, 30-19. The Pistons lost for the fifth straight time despite double-doubles from Andre Drummond and Josh Smith. This was the third straight game and the fourth time in five games the Pistons failed to score 90 points.

NOTEWORTHY MATCHUP

Clippers bigs vs. Pistons bigs – In Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe, the Pistons boast two bigs averaging double-digit rebounds a night. That’s helped the Pistons in a major way on the glass, and they’re currently fourth in the league in rebounds per game. That’s been a struggle area for the Clippers, who’ve relied mostly on DeAndre Jordan for rebounds and are second to last in the league in that category. But the Clippers are coming off a game in which Griffin and Jordan both pulled down double-digit rebounds, and they’ll have their hands full on the glass in Detroit to repeat that performance.

TWO THINGS TO WATCH

Keeping Pistons at their offense average – The Pistons have only scored more than 95 points in five of their 14 games this season, and they haven’t won a game this season scoring fewer than 95 points. The Pistons come into the game shooting 41 percent, while the Clippers enter at 47.2 percent and scoring 103 points per game. That may be a challenge against a Pistons team that’s only allowed its opponent to score more than 100 points four times this year.

Can Blake Griffin keep it going inside – Griffin followed up a 12-point, four-rebound, three-assist game by going off in Charlotte. He scored 22 points, pulled in 16 rebounds and dished out nine assists, attacking inside better than he had all season. In the first quarter, he went 4-for-8 inside the paint without taking a single outside jumper. He then expanded his game outside after establishing himself in the paint.

NOTES

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy may know the Clippers’ personnel as well as anyone, having coached J.J. Redick, Matt Barnes, Hedo Turkoglu and Glen Davis through his career… Jamal Crawford will be returning to the state he played college basketball in at Michigan…Pistons forward Caron Butler played for the Clippers for two seasons between 2011 and 2013… Matt Barnes (calf) and Chris Douglas-Roberts (Achilles) aren’t expected to play …The Clippers have won six straight games against the Pistons

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