Dec 29, 2012; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Miami Heat forward LeBron James (6) (left) drives for a shot as Milwaukee Bucks center Larry Sanders (8) (right) defends during the first quarter at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

With each team fresh off a surprising win over the Miami Heat, the Milwaukee Bucks (16-12) and Detroit Pistons (10-22) meet Sunday trying to keep their perfect weekends intact.

The Pistons topped the Heat at home by ten points Friday when Will Bynum and Charlie Villanueva came off the bench to score 43 points on 26 shots.

The Bucks regained the Central Division lead by beating Miami at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, 104-85.  Brandon Jennings scored 25 points, while Luc Mbah a Moute had 19 of his own — while doing everything he could on the other end to harass LeBron James into six turnovers.

Milwaukee will face the touch task of bouncing back just 20 hours after an emotional win.  Their last three sets of back-to-back games have all started with wins but ended with disappointing losses to the Clippers, Grizzlies, and Cavaliers.

Projected Lineups:

Pistons: Brandon Knight, Kyle Singler, Tayshaun Prince, Jason Maxiell, Greg Monroe
Bucks: Brandon Jennings, Monta Ellis, Marquis Daniels, Luc Mbah a Moute, Larry Sanders

Injury Status:

Rodney Stuckey (sprained ankle): questionable

Stuckey missed the Heat game Friday with the injury.

A Piston to Watch?

This game is the first meeting of four between the two teams this season, but they did meet in the preseason. In that game, rookie Andre Drummond banged his way to seven offensive rebounds and 19 points. In limited minutes, he is still the Pistons’ leading offensive rebounder. The Bucks will need to put a body (or better yet, two) to keep him from creating easy second-chance points.

Some Stats:

Some how, some way, by some metric, Basketball Reference has the Bucks and Pistons as the #18 and #19 teams in their ranking system.  The Bucks are contenders for the division lead.  The Pistons are 10-22.  (Granted, these numbers don’t take into account the Heat game, but still…)

Honestly, by the Four Factor metrics, the two teams actually do look a lot alike.  But the Bucks are better at creating turnovers, something they did unfathomably well against the Heat. Milwaukee forced Miami into 21 turnovers while committing just five of their own.

Whether they can duplicate the same ball pressure on weary legs will likely determine whether they can end their slide in back-to-back games.

On the surface, that statement is akin to saying that the Bucks like good players, but Woelfel also takes a realistic view of the situation and notes some relevant aspects and possibilities.

For starters, they are not moving into the top-four.  New Orleans, Charlotte, Washington, and and Cleveland are holding pat.  The first three squads floundered in 2011-12 and Cleveland needs elite young talent to pair with Kyrie Irving.  None of those teams would give up a pick for what the Bucks could offer them.

Jan 18, 2012; Storrs, CT, USA; Connecticut Huskies center Andre Drummond (12) drives the ball to the basket during the second half against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Gampel Pavilion. The Cincinnati Bearcats defeated UConn 70-67. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-US PRESSWIRE

Two possible targets are Golden State with the 7th pick and New Orleans with the 10th pick.  Getting the 7th pick could help them land Andre Drummond or John Henson, who could both help the team up front, albeit in different ways. Drummond has incredible athletic talent, plus size, but would need time to mature. Henson is a wispy, long defensive ace who could step into the rotation straight away.

Woelfel floats the idea of using Luc Mbah a Moute as bait to pique Golden State’s interest, but it’s hard to see the Warriors giving up ground in the draft for a player with two big question marks: a creaky knee and a limited offensive game.  Luc’s a great defender, but he would be towing a sizy contract with him to Oakland, too.  Steph Curry would have his hands full keeping a Luc/Bogut offense from decomposing into a reprise of the 2010-11 Bucks.

Woelfel notes that the Bucks expect Henson to be taken by the Pistons with the 9th pick.

I can’t see the Bucks giving up much to move up to the #10 pick.  The draft appears to be tiered, with Anthony Davis on top, Beal/Kidd-Gilchrist/Robinson/Barnes/Lillard filling out a plateau one step downward, and a third level of talent that should last through the end of the lottery.  Trading with Golden State gets them to the top of the third level, which could make sense for them.  But if the Bucks are eyeing a player at #10, there is still a good chance he may still be available in the #12 spot since the talent in this third tier isn’t well differentiated.

The Trailblazers have the #11 pick and, like the Bucks, one of the spots where they need help is at center.