After a forgettable performance Sunday night in Dallas, Andre Drummond and the Detroit Pistons hope to snap a four-game losing streak on Tuesday, and host the Orlando Magic.
Drummond turned in a season-low four points in Sunday’s 116-106 loss to the Mavericks and had six rebounds. He averages 12.6 points and 12.6 rebounds on the season.
“He just had a bad game,” Pistons’ coach Maurice Cheeks said. “The guy’s 20 years old. We’re not going to expect him to be like a machine every night, to go get 18, 19 rebounds. He’s 20 years old. He didn’t have a good game.”
At 13-33 on the season, Orlando is the NBA’s worst road team. The Magic are 3-19 through 22 road games, and their .136 road winning percentage is the lowest in the league since the 2011 Charlotte Bobcats.
Former Piston Jason Maxiell will start for Orlando in place of rookie Victor Oladipo. Maxiell is averaging 3.5 points and 2.7 rebounds in his first season with the Magic. Oladipo has made a strong case for rookie of the year so far this season, averaging 13.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists
Glen Davis (12.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg), Tobias Harris (13.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg), Jameer Nelson (13.7 ppg, 6.7 apg) and Aaron Afflalo (20.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg) round out Orlando’s starting five. The Magic will be without starting center Nikola Vucevic for the 12th straight game due to a concussion suffered on Jan. 6.
Detroit will feature the same starting five for the 20th straight game: Josh Smith (15.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg), Brandon Jennings (16.4 ppg, 8.4 apg), Andre Drummond (12.6 ppg, 12.7 rpg), Greg Monroe (14.4 ppg, 8.8 rpg) and rookie Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (7.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg). Sixth man Rodney Stuckey (14.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg) and reserve forward Kyle Singler (8.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg) should also see extended minutes off the bench.
Tip-off is at 7:30 pm at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Follow all of the action on Twitter @MichiganReview
