• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Pistons-76ers Preview

Apr 5, 2010 - 3:15 PM By JUSTIN EINHORN STATS Senior Editor

Detroit (23-53) at Philadelphia (26-50), 7:00 p.m. EDT

Two years removed from meeting in the first round of the playoffs, the Detroit Pistons and Philadelphia 76ers are winding down their worst seasons in more than a decade.

Detroit takes an 11-game losing streak into Philadelphia on Tuesday night in a matchup of teams headed for the draft lottery.

The Pistons are at the point of being happy with moral victories, like the one they felt after Saturday's 91-85 road loss to playoff-bound Atlanta. Detroit (23-53) had a season-low three turnovers.

"I think we competed," coach John Kuester said. "It was good to see that we took care of the basketball."

The Pistons, guaranteed to finish with their worst record since going 28-54 in 1994-95, are mired in their second double-digit losing streak of the season. They dropped 13 straight Dec. 15-Jan. 11.

It's possible Detroit will be very short-handed again after taking the floor Saturday without Richard Hamilton (ankle), Ben Wallace (knees) and Jason Maxiell (back).

"We played our heart out," said Kwame Brown, who had eight points and eight rebounds in his first start of the season.

Ben Gordon went scoreless in 22 minutes and is averaging 8.4 points during Detroit's 11-game skid on the road, which began after a victory at Sacramento on Feb. 23.

Also since that day, the 76ers are 4-16 overall - 2-9 at home.

Philadelphia appeared to be a team on the rise after losing in six games to Detroit in a 2008 opening-round series and giving eventual conference champion Orlando a tough six-game series last year. Instead, the Sixers (26-50) have taken a turn for the worse and will end up with at least their most losses since going 31-51 in 1997-98.

Like the Pistons, Philadelphia is coming off a good effort in a defeat to a team in playoff position, rallying from 17 down to force overtime before falling 128-123 to Toronto on Saturday.

"They might have needed it more but, we definitely wanted that win more," said forward Elton Brand, who failed to grab a rebound for the first time in his career.

Brand is averaging 17.8 points in the past four home games compared to 9.0 in his last five on the road. He led six Sixers in double figures with 25 points in a 104-94 win at Detroit on Jan. 9 in the most recent meeting.

The previous matchup in Philadelphia this season resulted in one of the Pistons' seven road wins, 90-86 on Dec. 9 behind Rodney Stuckey's 27 points.

Stuckey will be matched up against rookie point guard Jrue Holiday, coming off a career-high 25-point night Saturday.

Holiday's starting backcourt mate, Andre Iguodala, had 33 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds against Toronto. He has averaged 21.7 points, 7.2 assists and 6.7 boards over the last six games.