Pistons halt Pacers' win streak at two

• Pacers at Nets%2C 8 p.m. Saturday%2C FSI

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Nearly a week ago after a road loss, C.J. Miles sat in front of his locker stall and talked of climbing over a hump. He did not define it at that time, but the "hump" for the Indiana Pacers this season could've represented a host of euphoria-inducing achievements. Staying healthy, for one. Winning three straight games as another, since the team has been unable to reach such a consecutive streak.

By Friday night, Miles once again saddled on a seat but wheezed where words should have been and could barely breathe, let alone aspire to climbing over those seemingly impossible humps.

Once again, sicknesses, fatigue and injuries have struck the locker room. So there goes the dream of fleeting health.

And after such a lowly defensive effort, in the 119-109 loss to the Detroit Pistons, here lies the Pacers' winning streak. Snapped before maturing to a third straight.

"I don't think it's like a hex or just mental (block)," said Miles, who sat out the entire fourth quarter after reporting to coaches his breathing problem. "I just think more coincidence of how it's just kind of gone. We didn't take advantage of the opportunity."

Twice now the Pacers (10-20) have peaked at two consecutive wins only to play their worst games – a 21-point loss to Denver on Nov. 14 and a 23-point defeat in Phoenix on Dec. 2. Add the downer in Detroit to the stockpile of blown chances.

The Pacers allowed Detroit (6-23) – the worst-shooting team in the NBA and historically bad with a .412 field-goal percentage – to reach season highs in points (119), field goal percent (54.7) and shots made (47). However, before Friday night, the Pacers had won two straight while playing above their norm – hitting at least 50 percent of their shots and averaging 24.5 assists. Before the two days off, the Pacers also locked down the New Orleans Pelicans to just a .398 shooting percentage.

So while patching a lineup together, Pacers coach Frank Vogel had placed a significant emphasis on continuing this thrust into something that could resemble a positive trend. Three straight wins. Though Indiana once again hit that 50.6 percent mark, the win did not follow. However, the ailments still linger like a shadow.

Miles, the third player in the Pacers' locker room to be afflicted with an upper respiratory infection, had to take an inhaler at halftime as the sickness flared up a breathing problem that he had under control for several years until recently.

Rodney Stuckey, in his return to Detroit, took an accidental shot from center Andre Drummond early in the third quarter and suffered a facial contusion. Stuckey never returned to the game and walked around afterward as a question mark for the Pacers' Saturday night game against the Brooklyn Nets with his right eye nearly swollen shut.

Finally, George Hill labored in his second game of the season. Though Vogel planned to play Hill only 20 minutes, and to close the game if necessary, Hill went for nearly 27 minutes and though winded, later in the locker room defiantly told a teammate how he planned to play in Brooklyn.

But even weaker than the team's health, try the Pacers' defense that never slowed a struggling Detroit squad. Now sans floor-clogging Josh Smith, the Pistons looked rejuvenated by the extraction.

"They changed their whole team around when they waived Josh Smith and gave them a breathe of fresh air and a big lift and had four days to sharpen things up," Vogel said. "We weren't sharp enough on the defensive end to get the job done."

Roy Hibbert scored at a steady rate (5-of-10 for 19 points) but defended tentatively while in foul trouble as his matchup, Drummond, made 9-of-12 shots for 20. Hibbert picked up his sixth foul with less than 6 minutes to go in the game.

"It would've been nice to get that third win in a row, but we already knew it was going to be a trying season," Hibbert said, "We felt that we didn't play our best – I didn't play my best to be able to get that win."

The Pacers have one more shot before turning the calendar to 2015 for that three-game winning streak. But it'll have to start Saturday even as the "hump" still appears enormous in the distance.

"We know it, we talked about it; we've just got to keep pushing," Miles said. "We see the growth step by step. That's obvious. It took steps to take a big step, and now it's going to take a couple more steps to take a leap, if that's what you want to call it."

Call Star reporter Candace Buckner at (317) 444-6121. Follow her on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.

INDIANA AT BROOKLYN

Tipoff: 8 p.m. Saturday, Barclays Center.

TV: Fox Sports Indiana.

Radio: WFNI-107.5 FM, 1070 AM.

PACERS (10-20)

Projected starters

NETS (13-15)

Projected starters

STORYLINES

Three straight for Brooklyn: The Nets survived a close one on Friday afternoon against the Boston Celtics, 109-107, to advance their longest winning streak of the season and are a step closer to moving back to .500. Considering how Brooklyn has sent out nine different starting lineups, the small amount of success factors greatly for a team searching for the playoff spot.

Pacers cut down the Nets last season: Indiana won all four games against the Nets during the 2013-14 campaign, including the difficult task of beating Brooklyn twice in one week (Dec. 23 and Dec. 28, 2013).

Prediction: The Nets have hit a bit of stride even with point Deron Williams injured with a right calf strain. As it stands after Brooklyn's win over Boston, the Nets hold the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. So Indiana will have to go through Brooklyn to make the playoffs. Nets win 101-90.

— Candace Buckner