The Los Angeles Clippers look to extend their longest winning streak in over 38 years on Monday night when they close out a four- game road trip versus the Detroit Pistons.
The Clippers logged their ninth straight win on Saturday night, besting the Milwaukee Bucks 111-85. It is the longest winning streak for the club in Clippers history and its best since it won a franchise-high 11 in a row from Nov. 3-23, 1974 as the Buffalo Braves.
Matt Barnes scored a season-high 21 points off the bench, while starters Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul all had double-doubles. Griffin had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Jordan notched 15 points and 11 boards and Paul finished with 10 points and 13 assists.
"I thought we played well tonight defensively. We forced a lot of turnovers and we limited them to one shot a lot of the times," Jordan said.
The Clippers, who haven't lost since Nov. 26 at home to the New Orleans Hornets, are 17-6 on the season, their best start through 23 games in franchise history. They surpassed the 16-7 start by the 1974-75 squad.
Los Angeles has won two straight and four of its last five versus Detroit, taking the lone matchup last season 87-83 in overtime at home.
Griffin had a tip-in with 19.2 seconds left in regulation that forced overtime and Paul's bucket gave the Clippers a one-point edge in overtime. Detroit missed on its next possession and had to foul.
Paul ended with 19 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds for Los Angeles, which has won two in a row in Detroit since an eight-game series road losing streak.
Greg Monroe paced the Pistons with 23 points and 15 rebounds last season versus the Clippers and leads his club this season with 15.2 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.
Monroe had 18 points and eight rebounds on Saturday versus the visiting Indiana Pacers, but the Pistons couldn't overcome 23 points by David West in an 88-77 setback.
The Pistons trailed by just two with 8:59 to play, but the Pacers ripped off an 11-0 run that spanned nearly six minutes.
"It came out to be a grind game in the last eight minutes, and they did what they do best. They win grind games," Pistons center Andre Drummond said. "They're a great team and David West hit a lot of tough shots. It was a learning game for us today."
Rodney Stuckey had 15 points and seven assists in defeat, Detroit's fourth straight both overall and at home, while Brandon Knight ended with 14 points.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.