Reed Sheppard

Kevin Durant scored 31 points and the Houston Rockets beat short-handed Atlanta 104-86 on Thursday night, ending the Hawks' four-game winning streak. The Rockets dominated the second half after leading only 43-42 at halftime. Jabari Smith had 14 points and Reed Sheppard added 13.

Reed s emergence rewarded with invitation to Rising Stars

Holiday is set to miss his fifth consecutive game when the Rockets take on the Pistons in Detroit. The veteran guard has spent the majority of his three seasons in Houston as a depth piece, and his absence on Friday will leave an opportunity for Reed Sheppard to continue to soak up the majority of the backup point guard minutes.

Both players will get the night off for injury maintenance, which means Josh Okogie and Reed Sheppard should see additional minutes against Detroit.

Houston Rockets (26-16, fourth in the Western Conference) vs. Detroit Pistons (32-10, first in the Eastern Conference)Detroit; Friday, 7 p.m. ESTBETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Pistons -4.5; over/under is 217BOTTOM LINE: Houston will try to break its five-game road skid when the Rockets take on Detroit.The Pistons are 18-4 on their home court. Detroit leads the Eastern Conference in rebounding, averaging 46.3 boards. Jalen Duren paces the Pistons with 10.9 rebounds.The Rockets are 11-13 on the road. Houston is the Western Conference leader with 49.0 rebounds per game led by Alperen Sengun averaging 9.2.The Pistons average 11.3 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.2 fewer makes per game than the Rockets allow (12.5). The Rockets average 11.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.2 fewer made shots on average than the 12.7 per game the Pistons give up.The two teams play for the second time this season. The Pistons defeated the Rockets 115-111 in their last meeting on Oct. 25. Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 21 points, and Kevin Durant led the Rockets with 37 points.TOP PERFORMERS: Cunningham is averaging 25.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 9.8 assists for the Pistons. Duncan Robinson is averaging 13.3 points over the last 10 games.Durant is averaging 26.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists for the Rockets. Reed Sheppard is averaging 2.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.LAST 10 GAMES: Pistons: 8-2, averaging 112.0 points, 44.5 rebounds, 26.8 assists, 12.0 steals and 8.4 blocks per game while shooting 47.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 100.5 points per game.Rockets: 5-5, averaging 107.7 points, 49.6 rebounds, 22.8 assists, 7.7 steals and 5.3 blocks per game while shooting 44.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.5 points.INJURIES: Pistons: Duncan Robinson: day to day (back), Ronald Holland II: day to day (illness), Caris LeVert: day to day (illness), Cade Cunningham: day to day (illness).Rockets: Fred VanVleet: out for season (acl), Aaron Holiday: out (back), Steven Adams: out (ankle).___The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.