The Houston Rockets travel to Motown to play the Detroit Pistons at Little Ceasar's Arena on Friday.

The Rockets (9-7) early season swoon appears to be a thing of the past, as they come into this matchup in the midst of a five-game winning streak. The victories have been even more consistent than that, with the Rockets winning eight of their last 10 games in total. What's truly shocking with this team is their elite defense, with Houston sitting fifth in points allowed. What's also bizarre is the fact that the Rockers are playing at the second-slowest pace in the league, as they currently sit 22nd in scoring and 28th in assists. This is a Houston team who sat top-three in both those categories last season and it's crazy just how much the philosophy has changed for this team. Opponents should be horrified by the positive regression that's headed Houston's way too, as they should climb closer to those offensive numbers from last season with James Harden running the show. and Chris Paul getting healthier

The Pistons (8-7) come into this matchup winning four of their last six games, albeit the most recent loss coming against these Rockets. It was no defeat to be discouraged by though, as Detroit lost by two points in Houston. Blake Griffin had yet another astounding performance, as he collected 37 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in that defeat. That got his season averages up to 25.1 points, 10.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, as he's stating a case for a start in the all-star game. Andre Drummond is also doing his job in the frontcourt, as they simply need more from their backcourt. Players like Reggie Jackson, Stanley Johnson and Reggie Bullock are playing below expectations and just a little more production from those players would make this one of the most dangerous teams in the Eastern Conference.

These teams just played on Wednesday, as Houston prevailed, 126-124.