76ers @ Pistons

Who will WIN this matchup?

Philadelphia 76ers (17-9)

@ Detroit Pistons (13-9)

Current odds:

Philadelphia 76ers: (+105)

Detroit Pistons: (-125)

• The line for this game is Pistons by 1.5 points.

• The Detroit Pistons and the Philadelphia 76ers want to be considered among the elite teams in the Eastern Conference, but both recently failed a test against another top-level opponent. Both teams will be trying to pick up the pieces when the Pistons host the 76ers on Friday. Philadelphia struggles on the road but had a chance to make a statement at NBA-best Toronto on Wednesday and fell short in a 113-102 loss. “It’s December 5th, (against) the league’s best team, but we leave disappointed,” 76ers coach Brett Brown told reporters. “We also leave we feel a little bit smarter on what it’s going to take to beat the best team right now in the NBA.”

• The Pistons were at the second-best team in the East on Wednesday against Milwaukee and could not contain the Bucks on the defensive end in a 115-92 setback. “Discipline,” Detroit coach Dwane Casey told reporters. “I thought we started out doing a good job on the 3-point line and then they got away from us. We got sucked in and (paid) too much attention to (Giannis) Antetokounmpo, rightfully so, but there’s things we’re supposed to be doing behind the guy defending him that we didn’t do.”

• Jimmy Butler tried to keep Philadelphia in Wednesday’s loss with a game-high 38 points on 15-of-27 shooting and 10 rebounds, and he continues to amaze his new team. “The Jimmy Butler acquisition is ridiculously exciting,” Brown told reporters. “I thought he was excellent tonight. I think Jimmy showed why he’s an All-Star. He came and gave us some tremendous things.” Butler pulled out of a funk after averaging 13 points on 15-of-37 shooting (2-of-9 from 3-point range) over the previous three games.

• Detroit followed up a five-game winning streak with losses to Oklahoma City and Milwaukee by a combined 50 points in the last two games, and Casey wants to see the intensity improve. “We’ve got to pick it back up,” Casey told reporters. “We’ve got to understand and have the same sense of urgency we had against Houston, against Golden State. We have a bull’s eye on us now. You’re in that middle part of the playoff race. Everybody’s fighting for something and this next gauntlet of games are going to be like that. Our fight level has got to go up.” Star center Andre Drummond failed to record a double-double in either of the last two games while averaging 11.5 points and seven rebounds.

• Pistons PG Ish Smith (groin) left Wednesday’s game and will undergo an MRI on Thursday.

• Philadelphia PF Wilson Chandler (quad) returned from a one-game absence on Wednesday and managed three points on 1-of-6 shooting in 26 minutes.

• The teams split the first two meetings this season, with each winning on its own home floor.

• Joel Embiid is not playing tonight for the 76ers due to rest.