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Wizards-Pistons Preview

Nov 21, 2015 - 5:34 AM Improved shooting from long range and a new defensive scheme have the Washington Wizards nearly reversing a three-game slide.

Getting their top scorer back improves their chances at completing the job.

With Bradley Beal potentially in the lineup for the first time in four games, the visiting Wizards go for a third straight win Saturday night against the Detroit Pistons.

Washington (5-4) surrendered an average of 119.0 points while shooting 28.8 percent from beyond the arc in losses to Boston, Atlanta and Oklahoma City.

Coach Randy Wittman simplified the defense, and the Wizards responded with a 108-99 win over Orlando last Saturday before beating Milwaukee 115-86 on Tuesday.

"It's team defense. We're going to make mistakes, it's just covering for each other," said forward Otto Porter, who scored 19 points against the Bucks.

Washington has also been terrific from 3-point range over the last two games, connecting on 24 of 51 attempts.

Beal's return from a sore left shoulder should keep the Wizards hitting consistently from beyond the arc. The guard is shooting 41.7 from long range while averaging 22.7 points.

Wittman, though, isn't making any assurances that the guard will be back Saturday.

"If a guy's hurt, you've got to make sure he's ready before he comes back," Wittman said.

The Wizards have won four of the last six meetings with Detroit (7-5), and John Wall is averaging 23.1 points while shooting 47.5 percent from the field over his last seven matchups.

Like Washington, the Pistons are trying to continue turning things around. They lost four games in a row before beating Cleveland 104-99 on Tuesday and following up with a 96-86 victory at Minnesota on Friday.

Andre Drummond had 21 points and 11 boards, overcoming a slow start attributed to the lingering effects of an upper respiratory infection that kept him from practicing the previous day.

"I thought he started real slow,'' coach Stan Van Gundy said. ''But he found it somewhere and in the second half he was really good.

"We did a little better job of getting him the ball in deep. And when he gets the ball in there, he's pretty good."

Drummond backs up his coach's claim by leading the NBA with 18.3 rebounds per game while adding 19.3 points. The center has a double-double in each of the first 12 games, giving him the longest streak by a Piston to start a season since 1985-86. It's also the longest such streak in the NBA since Chris Paul went 13 games to start 2013-14.

Drummond has averaged 14.3 points and 13.5 rebounds over four home meetings with Washington. He had 18 and 16 in the most recent with Detroit winning 106-89 on Feb. 22.

Reggie Jackson scored 17 points in that matchup, but he had just nine with seven assists in a 99-95 loss in the nation's capital six days later.