Detroit @ Brooklyn preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 7, 2018 ) Brooklyn 106, Detroit 115

The Detroit Pistons have a chance to match their longest winning streak of the season when they visit the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. After a 3-13 swoon sent the Pistons to the brink of elimination in the Eastern Conference playoff race, they've shown some late life with four straight wins.

Andre Drummond had 22 points and 17 rebounds to lead Detroit to a 115-109 win at the New York Knicks on Saturday, pulling the squad within 4 1/2 games of eighth-place Miami but with just six games to play. "It's been a long season. It's been a tough one for us. We're not where we necessarily envisioned ourselves, but like I said I'm just proud of the resiliency this team's had," guard Reggie Jackson told reporters after scoring 17 points in the win. "Despite what our record may say, coming in every day and trying to get better and continue to battle." Saturday's contest at Madison Square Garden began a closing stretch for the Pistons in which five of their final seven opponents are at least 20 games under .500. The Nets certainly qualify but they're coming off a 2-0 trip to Florida, including Saturday's 110-109 overtime triumph in Miami that kept the Heat from clinching a playoff berth.

TV: 6 p.m. ET, FS Detroit, FS Detroit Plus, YES (Brooklyn)

ABOUT THE PISTONS (36-40): Saturday's win came with star power forward Blake Griffin sidelined with a bone bruise in his right ankle, and he likely will miss at least three more contests. Veteran Anthony Tolliver filled in admirably when Griffin left early in Thursday's win over Washington and he added 17 points in the win over the Knicks. Tolliver is averaging 17.8 points in the last four games to raise his season mark to 8.2.

ABOUT THE NETS (25-51): D'Angelo Russell is one of Brooklyn's building blocks for the future but he wasn't able to play his way out of a rough start Saturday, seeing just seven minutes of action and missing all five of his shots before he sat for the remainder of the game. "I felt like those other guys came in and started to play great," coach Kenny Atkinson said of benching Russell. "You just go with it as a coach. It was just a feel." Another cornerstone who had a much better evening was Caris LeVert, who produced 19 points, a career-high 12 rebounds and eight assists in 35 minutes off the bench, making the decisive basket in the final minute.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Drummond had a season-high 27 rebounds in a 115-106 win over Brooklyn at home Feb. 7.

2. Nets SF Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 20 points against Miami and has averaged 17.2 - nearly three over his season mark - over an 11-game stretch.

3. Pistons SF James Ennis III is 14-of-24 from the field over his last four games.

PREDICTION: Pistons 111, Nets 109