(Sports Network) - The Detroit Pistons are on the verge of their worst start
in franchise history and will face an Oklahoma City Thunder team that just
beat them a few days ago.
The Pistons are 0-7 for only the third time in team annals (1962-63, 1980-81)
and suffered a 96-82 loss at Houston Saturday in the finale of a six-game road
trip. Brandon Knight had 16 points and Greg Monroe added 12 and 11 rebounds
for the Pistons, who made 40 percent of their shots and got 13 points from
Tayshaun Prince.
"There was no offensive energy out there at all. We didn't even give ourselves
a chance during that run," Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said.
Frank's squad did have a 12-2 run in the second quarter to pull within 47-41,
but a 10-1 run by the Rockets in the third quarter sealed the win.
Prince is one point shy of moving into eighth place on the Pistons' all-time
scoring list. That should happen quickly, as he scored 16 points in Friday's
105-94 loss at Oklahoma City.
Monroe recorded his fourth straight double-double for Detroit, which will play
just its second home game of the season Monday.
Oklahoma City is riding a four-game winning streak and recorded a 106-91
triumph Sunday versus the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Russell Westbrook led the charge with 27 points and 10 assists, while Kevin
Durant, the fifth-leading scorer in the NBA (22.6 ppg), had a season-high 26
points for the defending Western Conference champion Thunder, who shot 54.8
percent from the floor and buried 7-of-15 3-pointers. Westbrook had four of
those treys.
"He busted the game open for us," Durant said of Westbrook. "They had hit some
shots and we had missed a lot going into the fourth, and that kind of broke
their back a little bit."
Kevin Martin and Serge Ibaka scored 16 and 14 points, respectively, in a
winning effort. Martin is third on the team in scoring with 17.7 ppg and has
been solid since coming over in a trade with Houston.
The Thunder target their eighth straight win over the Pistons, but are just
3-10 in the last 13 games as the guest in this series. Westbrook was held to a
season-low 10 points in the recent win over the Pistons.
Durant had 25 points and 13 rebounds versus Detroit and has scored at least 22
points in six of seven games this season.
The Sports Network