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Playoff-bound Pistons looking to improve standings

Apr 11, 2009 - 6:19 AM By Alan Ferguson Stats Writer

Detroit (39-40) at Indiana (34-45) 7:00 p.m. EDT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The Eastern Conference playoff field is determined, but the Detroit Pistons have a chance to finish as high as fifth place over the final three games.

The Pistons begin their final push for a better postseason spot Saturday night against the host Indiana Pacers.

With a 100-93 victory over visiting New Jersey and Charlotte's loss in Oklahoma City on Friday night, Detroit clinched its seventh consecutive playoff berth and enters Saturday tied for seventh in the East with Chicago.

The Pistons are one game behind sixth-place Philadelphia and two back of Miami in fifth with three games remaining for all four teams. However, even an improbable run to fifth place would mark their worst finish since missing the postseason in 2000-01.

"We've been through some rough times and struggled this year," first-year coach Michael Curry said. "We need to take some of the things we've learned and use them in the playoffs. We're still going to be in there - just not with the kind of seed we're used to having."

While Detroit comes in on a three-game win streak, it has lost six of its last eight away from home. The Pistons won the first two meetings this season over the Pacers, but lost 116-110 in overtime on January 14 in Indiana, snapping an eight-game win streak over the Pacers and a three-game win streak at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Rodney Stuckey scored a team-leading 30 points in that defeat, and has averaged 25.5 points on 67.9 percent shooting in his last two starts against Indiana.

Despite Danny Granger's 35 points, the Pacers were eliminated from playoff contention with Friday night's 122-118 loss to Atlanta. Indiana had won six of eight entering the game, but the push came a little too late.

"Hopefully we'll be able to come back next year and get our franchise back on top," reserve center Jeff Foster said. "Our intentions were to win this game, although our playoff chances were very slim. These last four games, we've been trying just to see what happens, but unfortunately we're not in the same position the Hawks are in."

Despite missing the postseason for a third straight year, Granger's emergence was one of the bright spots this season for Indiana. The fourth-year swingman is sixth in the league with 25.5 points per game, and has been stellar since returning from a torn tendon in his right foot March 15, leading Indiana in scoring in eight straight contests.

Granger has averaged 29.0 points in his last 11 starts and scored 30-plus points in five of the last seven. He scored a career-high 42 in a December 12 loss in Detroit and has averaged 33.0 points in the season's three meetings.

The Pacers, winners of four of their last five home games, are 17-6 at Conseco Fieldhouse since January 3.

Following their trip to Indiana, the Pistons face Chicago in a pivotal home matchup on Monday night and head to Miami for Wednesday night's regular-season finale. The Pacers, who begin a three-game homestand Saturday, welcome Cleveland and Milwaukee in their final two games.