The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Detroit Pistons have led their respective conferences most of the season, but they haven’t measured up against each other. That changes on Wednesday night when the defending champions visit the Motor City.
The Eastern Conference-leading Pistons had their five-game winning streak snapped by the No. 2 team in the West, the streaking Spurs, on Monday. San Antonio stretched its winning streak to nine games by cooling off the Pistons 114-103 in Detroit.
The Spurs limited All-Star guard Cade Cunningham to 16 points on 5-for-26 shooting.
“We just could not find our rhythm in this game,” Cunningham said. “That’s the same thing with me as well. I did not have anything rolling for me, even in the paint. With my 3-ball, I could not find my rhythm, but every day is different. There are going to be days when the ball will go through the rim, but (Monday) was not one of those nights.”
Now Cunningham and his teammates face another elite defense on Wednesday before they wrap up a three-game homestand against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.
“We have a week full of smoke,” Cunningham said. “It’s great. We get to see where we’re at, see where the league’s at, learn a lot in these three games, five games, even the last few games we’ve played have all been good challenges for us. It’s a lot to learn from all these games. I think we’ll come out of all this better and more prepared for the playoffs and everything. It’s good, it’s healthy for us.”
The Pistons haven’t taken back-to-back losses since late December, when they dropped road decisions to the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers. Keeping that streak going against Oklahoma City will require a top-level performance.
“Our guys respect everybody and want to give everybody their best shot. So, no matter who the opponent is, our guys are looking forward to those challenges,” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said.
Reigning Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won’t play on Wednesday due to an abdominal strain, which will be the ninth consecutive game he has missed. Oklahoma City is 5-3 without its superstar, including an active three-game winning streak.
Guards led the Thunder to a 116-107 victory over the host Toronto Raptors on Tuesday as Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe and Alex Caruso combined for 65 points and 14 assists.
“When we have guys out, we have guys playing different roles,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “But it doesn’t mean you change your game. You’ve got to still play inside of your strengths and inside of your game. If you do that, this experience can scale forward. …
“You never want to have guys out, but this has been a great stretch for Cason. He has had ball-handling responsibilities. He has had to run the offense. Tonight, we closed the game through his hands. And he has risen to the occasion.”
The Thunder swept the two-game season series against the Pistons last season. The second meeting this season will be held at Oklahoma City on March 30.
