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Detroit has currently won just one of its past eight games while New York has gone ten games with just one win. After a blowout in Chicago, the Knicks are in the midst of a six game losing streak. The Pistons have lost four straight, most recently dropping a pair in Texas.
Pistons fans covet the Knicks current spot in the standings, as they have just snuck past the Jazz as the seventh worst team in the league. But the Knicks have been brutal to watch lately, losing their last three games by an average of 22 points. For a team trying to convince Carmelo Anthony not to opt out, it's not been going well.
The struggles in Detroit have been reminiscent of what the team has seen all year long: horrible defense and two much Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings. John Loyer, looking to shed the interim label and win the head coaching job for his own this summer, has done nothing to address the team's biggest problem and stake his claim.
Carmelo Anthony: As bad as the Knicks have been, the fault hasn't been with Melo. Since his 62 point outing against the Bobcats, he's been averaging 33 points per game on 59-percent true shooting with 8 rebounds and a few assists.
Defense: When Loyer took over, he talked about how he'd like to improve the defense. Over the past seven games, the Pistons are giving up 112 points per game. Good job there, buddy.
Stop playing Smith: Josh Smith is leading the team in minutes over this losing stretch. He's leading the team in shot attempts. His true shooting percentage is 47 percent. Play him big minutes and maybe it'll be one of the handful of games when he's actually been good. But the odds are against it.
Question of the Game:
So. Brandon Jennings went a little nuts on Twitter over Allen Iverson's jersey retirement yesterday. How sad is this?
Thank You. pic.twitter.com/ARgVU88vx5
— BRANDON JENNINGS (@BrandonJennings) March 2, 2014