5 posts tagged “detroit pistons”
Dallas +3 1/2 vs. Detroit
In his two seasons coaching the Detroit Pistons, Coach Rick Carlisle made his name with a stingy defense, with his current squad, the Dallas Mavericks—well not so much. Carlisle’s present team will travel to face his former team Friday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Dallas’ defense reached a new low in their last contest, Wednesday night in Milwaukee. They allowed the Bucks to score the most points they have given up in seven years en route to a 133-99 rout. It was also the Mavericks’ (24-18) worst loss since November 2001.
Giving up 99 points per game, Dallas has seen that stat bloom to 109.6 in their last seven contests, of which they have lost five. Dirk Nowitzki is trying his best to keep his teams in these games. Over the past five games, he has averaged 31.4 points and has shot 52 percent.
The Pistons (24-17) are looking for their third straight victory after dropping five in a row from January 10th-January 17th. Wednesday, they defeated Toronto 95-76 in a solid defensive effort which saw Detroit hold the Raptors to 42.5 percent shooting. Tayshaun Prince led the way with 25 points on 11-of-16 from the field.
Detroit has been solid on defense much of the season, ranking fourth in the NBA in field goal defense and fourth fewest points allowed per game with 92.7. Their recent slide has more to do with their offense than their defense as they have struggled to reach 100 points. The Pistons have hit the century mark only once in the last 15 games.
This will be the first meeting of the year between the teams. They have alternated wins and losses in each of their last eight meetings at the Palace of Auburn Hills, with the Pistons taking the most recent game played there 90-67 last February 3rd.
Detroit -8 vs. Philadelphia
The Philadelphia 76ers organization simply must have the Detroit Pistons firmly residing in their head. The Pistons have been responsible for a handful of recent playoff exits for the Sixers, they stole their coach, Larry Brown, who promptly won an NBA championship in his first year in Detroit and now the Pistons have perhaps the most iconic Philadelphia basketball player in two decades on their roster.
Allen Iverson has played against Philadelphia while in Denver, but this game may be more meaningful now that he is a member of an Eastern Conference Rival. The 76ers drafted Iverson as the first pick in the 1996 draft and watched him grow into a bona-fide star. He took the sagging franchise back up to some of its former glory and won the Eastern Conference in the 2000-01 season. Philadelphia traded Iverson in 2006 as they fortunes began to once again sag.
There will be no better way for Philadelphia to start excising Detroit out of its mind than beating them on the road tonight when the teams meet up at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
The Pistons (11-6) have been a streaky team since acquiring Iverson on November 3. They lost their first two with Iverson in the lineup. They then won four of five, including a road victory over the previously undefeated Lakers, but are now currently in a funk in which they have dropped three of their last five. Detroit hopes their effort against San Antonio a few nights back will put them back on the right track. The Pistons beat back a Spurs halftime lead and held them to only 32 second half points to get the road win 89-77.
Philadelphia may yearn for the golden days of Iverson as they will be missing their new franchise player, Elton Brand, for tonight's game with a strained hamstring. Brand suffered the injury in Wednesday's 114-103 loss to the Lakers.
This will be the first meeting of the season between the 76ers and Pistons. The teams split their four regular season games a year ago, with both teams winning on each others' court once. They also met in the first round of the postseason last year with the 76ers claiming two of the first three games only to watch the Pistons win three straight to take the series in six games.
Boston Celtics -7 vs. Detroit Pistons
At some point as the Detroit Pistons continue to knock of the NBA's hottest teams, they must be considered the NBA's hottest team. Last night Detroit put a stop to division rival Cleveland's eight game winning streak with a 96-89 victory at the Palace of Auburn Hills. On the slate for the Pistons is a trip to Boston to play another one of the league's top and hottest teams, the defending champion Celtics.
The Pistons (8-3) have had their struggles against Boston lately. The Celtics ousted Detroit in the Eastern Conference Finals in six games last season and they lost the first game versus Boston this year in Detroit 88-76 in Allen Iverson's home debut November 9. Over the last nine games, including postseason the Celtics have won seven.
After going 0-2 with Iverson, Detroit has roared out to win four out of their last five. Friday night they gave the Lakers their first and only loss of the season, but they followed that stellar victory with a disappointing loss to Phoenix Sunday night. The Celtics will hope history will repeat itself.
Boston (10-2) is the first team in the league to double digit victories and look just as good as the team that took it all last season. Tuesday night, the Celtics even played without Kevin Garnett and still were able to beat the Knicks 110-102. Garnett had been suspended for one game for a flagrant foul against the Bucks' Andrew Bogut in Saturday night's overtime victory for the Celtics. He will be back for Detroit.
In the first game the Pistons struggled mightily by shooting a season low 34.7 percent against the Celtics stellar defense. Detroit was actually held under Boston's defensive statistics of 39.9 percent shooting and 90.7 points per contest.
Despite their struggles overall against the Celtics, the Pistons were the only team that won a game in Boston during the playoff's last spring. This season Boston is 6-1 at home while Detroit is 5-2 on the road.
Los Angeles Lakers -9 1/2 vs. Detroit Pistons
Two of the top teams in the league meet up in Los Angeles as the undefeated Lakers welcome in the Pistons for tonight's game at the Staples Center.
The Pistons (6-2) started slow with their new superstar, going 0-2 in Allen Iverson's first two games. But the road trip has been good thus far for Iverson and his new teammates as they won their second straight contest last night when they defeated Golden State 107-102. This came after the first victory with A.I. Tuesday night in Sacramento.
Despite Detroit's 2-2 record with him, Iverson has been the pacesetter for the Pistons since his arrival last week from Denver. Iverson's 23 points and nine assists led the team, but the best news for the Pistons on this night was Richard Hamilton breaking out of his slump. Hamilton had not been his self since the Pistons brought in Iverson, but last night against the Warriors, he netted 24 points, seven assists and nine rebounds. Rasheed Wallace also had a strong game by netting 19, boarding 11 and blocking three balls.
The Lakers (7-0) have had a couple of nail biters as they have stayed perfect for the longest time since 2001-2002. Tuesday they completed a two game road trip by winning the second game at New Orleans 93-86. If the Lakers can get by the Pistons Friday night, they could be undefeated for some time. Seven of their next eight games are at the Staples Center and of those games, only three are against teams with winning records, including Detroit.
In their victory in New Orleans, the Lakers got 20 point efforts out of both Kobe Bryant and Derrick Fisher. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum added another 14 each.
On the injury front, Pistons' guard Rodney Stuckey is day-to-day due to dizziness. Stuckey has missed the last two games for Detroit.
Last season the teams split their two games played against each other, with both teams winning on each other's home courts. Detroit has won six of the last eight in the regular season and are 11-4 against Los Angeles since the start of the 2003-2004 season, including that year's NBA Finals.
Toronto -4 vs. Detroit
The new era of Detroit Pistons basketball starts north of the border tonight. Lost in the shuffle of the arrival of Allen Iverson and the departure of fan favorite Chauncey Billups is the fact that the Pistons (3-0) will meet the Raptors (3-0) tonight in Toronto in a battle of undefeated teams.
Alan Iverson met the Detroit media for the first time yesterday and has pledged his enthusiasm for helping the team win their first World Championship since 2004. With Billups, the NBA Finals MVP from that season, the Pistons made six straight Eastern Conference Finals, but they were a disappointing 2-4 in those series. Having six bites at the apple and only making the Finals once and only winning it all only once may have sealed Billups fate in the Motor City. He moves on to Denver, along with Antonio McDyess and the duo take their large salaries with them. Meanwhile Iverson brings his large contract, but unlike the two leaving Auburn Hills, his deal is up after this year.
If the Detroit Pistons are doing rebuilding on the fly, it is obvious Richard Hamilton will be in the middle of it. Hamilton agreed to a $34 million three year contract extension yesterday as well. The All-Star is averaging nearly 20 points per game through the first three games of the season.
With a win over Detroit, Toronto will win four straight for the first time in franchise history. The last time out, the Raptors beat the Bucks 91-87 with standout Jose Calderon scoring a career high 25 points. All-Star Chris Bosh is averaging a double double this season with 22.5 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.
It is unclear if Iverson will suit up in the red, white and blue for the Pistons tonight. If he does, however, the Toronto Raptors may be in trouble. In 26 games against Toronto, Iverson has averaged 30 points per game.
Detroit carried the season series 3-1 last season, with Toronto's only win coming at home.
