DETROIT (AP) — Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond are both out for the Detroit Pistons on Monday night against Washington.Griffin did not return after halftime when the Pistons won at Houston on Saturday night. He has a sore left knee.Drummond is out with left eye inflammation. He also missed the game against the Rockets.Wizards guard Isaiah Thomas was in the starting lineup Monday night after missing five straight games with a calf injury.Thon Maker and Markieff Morris started for the Pistons instead of Drummond and Griffin.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Little Caesars Arena in Detroit will finally host its first playoff game — in what is probably the last chance the Pistons have to make their series against Milwaukee competitive."Let's make it hard on them," Detroit coach Dwane Casey said. "Let's make it a home atmosphere, because we need everything."The Milwaukee-Detroit matchup is one of two series shifting sites Saturday. Houston and Utah will also play Game 3 in Salt Lake City. There are a couple Game 4s on tap as well: Philadelphia at Brooklyn, and Denver at San Antonio.The Pistons are in their second season at their new arena, but even after moving downtown, they've had their share of small, dreary crowds — similar to the atmosphere during their final years at The Palace of Auburn Hills. But there's every reason to expect a more charged scene Saturday night. Little Caesars Arena has hosted the NCAA and Horizon League tournaments in basketball, but there have been no home playoff games yet for the Pistons — or for the Red Wings, who... [More]

Little Caesars Arena in Detroit will finally host its first playoff game — in what is probably the last chance the Pistons have to make their series against Milwaukee competitive."Let's make it hard on them," Detroit coach Dwane Casey said. "Let's make it a home atmosphere, because we need everything."The Milwaukee-Detroit matchup is one of two series shifting sites Saturday. Houston and Utah will also play Game 3 in Salt Lake City. There are a couple Game 4s on tap as well: Philadelphia at Brooklyn, and Denver at San Antonio.The Pistons are in their second season at their new arena, but even after moving downtown, they've had their share of small, dreary crowds — similar to the atmosphere during their final years at The Palace of Auburn Hills. But there's every reason to expect a more charged scene Saturday night. Little Caesars Arena has hosted the NCAA and Horizon League tournaments in basketball, but there have been no home playoff games yet for the Pistons — or for the Red Wings, who... [More]

DALLAS (AP) — Khris Middleton thought Nikola Mirotic tilted a playoff series in Chicago's favor nearly four years ago when the Bulls beat his Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.Mirotic will be on Middleton's side for the postseason this time around.The Bucks had already surged to the NBA's best record when general manager Jon Horst got the 6-foot-10 Mirotic, an adept 3-point shooter, in a three-team trade that sent Milwaukee's Jason Smith and Detroit's Stanley Johnson to New Orleans. The Pistons got Thon Maker from Milwaukee.The Pelicans made a similar move to add Mirotic last February, and he helped them rally to make the playoffs and advance to the second round after a season-ending injury to DeMarcus Cousins."Another guy that has playoff experience, one," Middleton said. "Two, he can stretch the floor and he knows how to play. I remember back when we played him in the Chicago series ... and how he changed that series for them, the way he knocked down shots."The Bucks are among the more... [More]

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Ed Stefanski can maintain a sense of humor about the challenges facing the Detroit Pistons."I wouldn't be here if things were rosy, is the way I look at it," said Stefanski, a senior executive with the Pistons. "And I tell that in our meetings when people want to say, oh, you know, this and that. I said, 'You guys wouldn't be here if things were good.'"Stefanski arrived as part of a front office overhaul last offseason, and this week was his first trade deadline with Detroit. The Pistons acquired guard Svi Mykhailiuk from the Lakers and center Thon Maker from the Bucks, giving up Reggie Bullock and Stanley Johnson in the process. The moves netted Detroit a couple young players but did little to change the overall outlook for the franchise.The Pistons have a lot of money tied up in Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson, and although Griffin has remained healthy and played like a star this season, Detroit was 24-29 heading into Friday night's matchup... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee Bucks have acquired forward Nikola Mirotic from the New Orleans Pelicans in a three-team deal.The Bucks made the announcement in a news release on Thursday. Milwaukee also will send forward Thon Maker to the Detroit Pistons and center Jason Smith and four future second-round draft picks to the Pelicans. Detroit will send forward Stanley Johnson to New Orleans to complete the deal.Mirotic is averaging career-highs of 16.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game this season. He is shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from 3-point range. The Montenegro native has averaged at least 10 points per game in each of his five seasons and earned All-Rookie after the 2014-15 season.He now joins a Milwaukee squad that has the best record in the NBA."We are thrilled to add such a talented player in Nikola Mirotic to our roster," Bucks general manager Jon Horst said in a statement. "He is a skilled, two-way player who fits extremely well into our system. He shoots... [More]

DETROIT (AP) — Last season, the Detroit Pistons acquired Blake Griffin in a blockbuster deal shortly before the trade deadline.So far, their moves this time around have been a lot more mild.The Pistons traded Reggie Bullock to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday for rookie guard Svi Mykhailiuk and a future second-round draft pick. Detroit also agreed to send forward Stanley Johnson to Milwaukee for center Thon Maker, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because that deal had not been announced publicly.The Pistons have been mediocre for a while, stuck between contending and rebuilding. For that reason, almost anything seemed possible as Thursday's trade deadline approached. Last year, Griffin came to Detroit in the middle of the season, but that wasn't enough to put the Pistons in the playoffs, and the franchise eventually parted with Stan Van Gundy, its coach and team president.This season hasn't been much different under new coach... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans left Wednesday night's game against the Milwaukee Bucks after appearing to injure his left ankle.Davis limped off the court and went directly to the locker room in the waning seconds of the first quarter after his legs got tangled with teammate Andrew Harrison underneath the basket as Harrison drew a charge on Milwaukee's Thon Maker.Harrison fell backward into Davis, who fell to the floor and immediately clutched his lower left leg.Davis, who also appeared shaken up on the previous play after blocking a shot and falling to the court, returned to the bench for a brief period at the start of the second quarter before again heading to locker room.The Pelicans announced he was questionable to return due to an illness.Davis scored 14 points and had five rebounds in the first quarter in a much-anticipated match-up with Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo.New Orleans entered the game short-handed in the front court due to a rash of injuries.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee Bucks' key free agent acquisition is a big man who could have an impact from the perimeter.Brook Lopez started at center in the Bucks' preseason opener against the Chicago Bulls, the first basketball game at Milwaukee's new Fiserv Forum.Lopez scored six points on 3-of-8 of shooting, missing all three 3-point attempts, in 15 minutes as the Bucks rolled to a 116-82 victory on Wednesday night at their new home arena.It was a milestone moment for a team featuring All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo that hopes to secure a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs this year."I think the stars have really aligned. We have all the talent in the world on the floor," Lopez said.The 10th overall pick by the Nets in 2008, Lopez averaged 13.0 points per game last season, matching his career low, in 74 games with the Los Angeles Lakers, after spending his first nine season with the New Jersey-Brooklyn franchise.But Lopez averaged more than 20 points a game in... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Thon Maker is having his biggest games at the biggest time of the year.Not bad for a bench guy and someone who, as recently as last week, was a roster afterthought.Maker had never blocked five shots in any NBA game before this postseason began — and now he's blocked that many in each of the last two playoff contests for the Milwaukee Bucks. There's an old coaching adage that tells players to stay ready, because they never know when their chance to make an impact has arrived.Maker is proving that axiom to be correct."Just trying to be there for my teammates, playing aggressive," said Maker, the Bucks' backup center. "It's the playoffs. These are the moments everybody plays for. You've got to find a way to win, you've got to find a way to impact the game. I try to do that every single time."Maker is almost an out-of-nowhere story for the Bucks, who've pulled even with the Boston Celtics four games into their Eastern Conference first-round series in large part because of a... [More]

Joel Embiid expects his first playoff game in Philadelphia to be quite a scene."It's going to be lit," Embiid said.And if the 76ers win, there will be more games like it next week.The 76ers can become the first team into the Eastern Conference semifinals when they host the Miami Heat on Tuesday in Game 5 of the only East series that isn't tied.Also Tuesday, the Golden State Warriors get their second chance to eliminate San Antonio, and the Celtics and Bucks return to Boston for Game 5 of a series in which the home team has won every game.Embiid was still sidelined while recovering from a broken orbital bone around his left eye for the first two games in Philadelphia, then returned to help the 76ers win Games 3 and 4 in Miami.Now the 76ers, who just two years ago lost 72 games in one of the worst seasons ever while the Warriors were winning an NBA-record 73, can join the defending champions in the second round on the same night. The 76ers have advanced to the East semis just twice since... [More]

Joel Embiid expects his first playoff game in Philadelphia to be quite a scene."It's going to be lit," Embiid said.And if the 76ers win, there will be more games like it next week.The 76ers can become the first team into the Eastern Conference semifinals when they host the Miami Heat on Tuesday in Game 5 of the only East series that isn't tied.Also Tuesday, the Golden State Warriors get their second chance to eliminate San Antonio, and the Celtics and Bucks return to Boston for Game 5 of a series in which the home team has won every game.Embiid was still sidelined while recovering from a broken orbital bone around his left eye for the first two games in Philadelphia, then returned to help the 76ers win Games 3 and 4 in Miami.Now the 76ers, who just two years ago lost 72 games in one of the worst seasons ever while the Warriors were winning an NBA-record 73, can join the defending champions in the second round on the same night. The 76ers have advanced to the East semis just twice since... [More]