The Detroit Pistons staved off elimination with a hot streak over the past two weeks.
They officially fell out of the Eastern Conference playoff race on Wednesday night when they lost to the even hotter Philadelphia 76ers 115-108. The Sixers stretched their winning streak to 12 games.
Detroit had won seven of its last eight games but couldn’t erase a midseason collapse that saw it drop from eight games above .500 to nine games below that mark. The Pistons (37-41) have now missed the playoffs in eight of the last nine seasons.
They’ll host the lottery-bound Dallas Mavericks on Friday Ty Sambrailo Jersey , scrounging for reasons to stay focused.
“We still have four games to go,” Pistons forward Anthony Tolliver said. “We can claw and scratch and hopefully get to that .500 mark. Just something to play for.”
The Pistons have failed to make the playoffs in three of the four seasons with Stan Van Gundy as head coach and president of basketball operations.
“It’s tough, just because you work all season and to now be eliminated, it hurts,” forward Henry Ellenson said. “We had different goals coming into the year. We have four games left and we’ve just got to finish out strong.”
It’s uncertain how much their biggest star will play in those games. Power forward Blake Griffin has missed the last three games with a bone bruise in his right ankle. Van Gundy says Griffin will play if he’s healthy, even though the games are meaningless.
The Mavericks (24-55) will be without their future Hall of Famer. Dirk Nowitzki underwent a surgical procedure on his left ankle Thursday morning and will miss the remaining games. Before the Mavs’ 105-100 loss to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, he had appeared in all but one of the team’s previous 78 games.
Nowitzki reportedly decided to have the surgical debridement in order to accelerate the rehab process and play for one more season.
Star rookie Dennis Smith Jr. (left knee soreness) and Harrison Barnes (rest) were also among seven players who didn’t suit up at Orlando.
Guard J.J. Barea strained his left oblique during the game and will be shut down for the final three games.
“There’s nothing wrong,” Barea told Mavs.com. “I’m just making sure it won’t get worse. I don’t want to finish the season with it messed up. I had a good season.”
Coach Rick Carlisle has been juggling rotations on a game-by-game basis, often featuring end-of-the-bench types and players who spent a good portion of the season in the G League. Rookie guard Kyle Collinsworth played a career-high 35 minutes against the Magic and had 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
“I just try to play how I play, get in the lane, get my floaters up, be aggressive DeShone Kizer Jersey , find shooters, pick up full court and create some sort of leverage for us,” Collinsworth told Mavs.com. “When I come in, no matter if it’s four minutes or however many minutes I played tonight, I play how I play. With extended minutes, you should have a little better stat line.”
Dallas manhandled Detroit in the first meeting on Dec. 20. Barnes scored 25 points and the Mavs accumulated 43 second-quarter points in a 110-93 victory.
Todd Bowles has a secret 鈥?and he's not letting on at all.The only thing is, everyone has a pretty good idea what it is.
The New York Jets coach won't say who his starting quarterback will be this season, despite all signs appearing to point to rookie Sam Darnold.
"I definitely won't do it today," Bowles said Sunday of an official announcement. "Sometime next week ... maybe."
Darnold has started New York's past two preseason games and appears to be the front-runner in the competition that includes incumbent Josh McCown and Teddy Bridgewater. The No. 3 overall draft pick has been solid this summer, impressing coaches and teammates with his decision-making and ability to quickly digest the playbook.
"As coaches, we'll meet on it and keep meeting on it," Bowles said. "I have my ideas in my head, which I'll keep to myself at this point.
"But K.J. Wright Jersey , I have a good idea."
Bowles insisted that the decision is not something he's even struggling with. No lost moments of sleep while juggling his signal callers in his mind.
"Not really," he said. "No."
To anyone watching the Jets throughout training camp and the preseason, it would be a surprise if Darnold isn't under center when New York opens the regular season at Detroit on Sept. 10. It would seem unlikely that Darnold will get much, if any, time on the field in the preseason finale Thursday night at Philadelphia 鈥?the game when starters typically sit out.
After missing the first three days of camp while getting his contract hammered out, Darnold quickly caught up to his teammates on the field. He was third in the rotation in the preseason opener against Atlanta, but opened the past two games with the starting offense.
Bowles said he has not told any of the players yet who the starting quarterback will be. And that's OK, as far as Darnold is concerned.
"I'm not really going about my day any different than I would," Darnold said. "I'm still continuing in practice to take advantage of every opportunity I get to play football and to be able to play this position. And, continuing to do my thing and trying to be as consistent as possible and go about it that way."
From a numbers standpoint, Darnold hasn't necessarily been eye-popping this preseason. He's 29 of 45 for 244 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
It's the veteran-like way he has handled situations in the games that has been promising. Darnold has displayed an ability to make plays when the pocket collapses, while also being smart with the football.
"I mean, I wouldn't be disappointed and I wouldn't be surprised Mackensie Alexander Jersey ," Darnold said of the possibility he isn't named the starter.
"Throughout my short career playing football, I've seen a lot of things," he added. "Teddy and Josh are great players, so I wouldn't be surprised. At the same time, every quarterback wants to play, but that's not my job to put the best player out there. That's Coach's job. Whether that's Josh, whether that's Teddy, whether that's me, we're just going to go out there and do the best we can."
Bridgewater has perhaps outplayed Darnold, just based on statistics, going 28 of 38 for 316 yards and two TDs and one interception. But it seems the veteran, who has proven he's healthy two years after a devastating knee injury, will be a backup 鈥?that is Danielle Hunter Jersey , if he's not traded.
"I'm living in the now," Bridgewater said. "I'm taking advantage of this opportunity I have right now."
Meanwhile, McCown has thrown just one pass, a 4-yard completion, in one series this preseason. It was similar to last summer when the 39-year-old veteran got limited work while the Jets evaluated their young QBs. McCown still ended up being the starter when neither Christian Hackenberg nor Bryce Petty distinguished himself.
This year, though, Darnold and Bridgewater have given Bowles and his coaches plenty to consider.
"I don't think it happens in a week," Bowles said of the decision. "It happens throughout the course of the spring and summer. I'll always get their opinion. This is not a state-of-the-union-type of thing. I think they have a feel for where I am from a coaching standpoint and you tell the players when you tell the players and kind of go from there."
NOTES: Bowles said WR Jermaine Kearse (abdomen) is considered "day to day, week to week." It's uncertain if Kearse, who led the team with 65 catches last season, will be ready for the season opener. ... Second-year RB Elijah McGuire (foot) won't be ready for the start of the regular season and Bowles wouldn't rule out putting him on short-term IR.
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