VS



Tip-Off: 8:00pm ET Tuesday, Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, MI

TV: FSN+ Detroit / Radio: 1130am WDFN Da Fan

The Spread



Outlook

The Detroit Pistons haven't been the dominant team some expected since acquiring Allen Iverson from the Denver Nuggets last month.

But on Friday night, they may not need a dominant performance as they host a reeling Oklahoma City Thunder team that's dropped 13 of 14 on the road.

Detroit (15-11) returns home following Tuesday's 104-98 victory over visiting Chicago that snapped a two-game losing streak. Second-year guard Rodney Stuckey hit 15-of-24 shots and scored a career-high 40 points as Iverson watched from the bench after straining his left groin with 8:53 remaining in the third quarter.

"We came out slow in the third quarter and I knew I had to pick it up,'' said Stuckey, averaging 18.4 points and 7.4 assists in seven games since being inserted into the starting lineup.

Iverson, meanwhile, is averaging just 7.5 points in his last two contests. In 22 games with the Pistons - Detroit is just 11-11 - Iverson is scoring 18.0 points per game. He's been held to single-digit scoring four times in the last 17 games. In the previous seven seasons combined, Iverson has scored fewer than 10 points in a game just four times.

Tuesday's 0-of-7 shooting performance was Iverson's second career game without a basket. The other was an 0-of-7 effort in Philadelphia's 85-80 loss to Cleveland on April 2, 1999.

Playing with the Nuggets, Iverson averaged 26.5 points and 9.8 assists versus the Oklahoma City franchise in 2007-08.

"Hopefully, with a couple days' rest, he'll be able to go on Friday,'' Detroit coach Michael Curry said following Tuesday's game.

Even if Iverson can't, the Pistons should be fine against a Thunder squad that hasn't won on the road since defeating Memphis 111-103 on Nov. 29 for its lone victory outside Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City (3-26) makes its first appearance in Detroit on Friday following Tuesday night's 99-88 loss at Atlanta - its sixth consecutive defeat on the road. The Thunder had lost their previous five road games by an average of just 6.0 points while shooting 47.5 percent from the field. Facing the Hawks, though, they hit just 37.4 percent.

"They hit a lot of big shots tonight and they got a lot of stops,'' said Kevin Durant, who scored 28 against Atlanta - his career-high eighth straight game with 20 or more points. "That's why they're a playoff team. Teams make their run, but we can't allow that. We could have made more shots but we didn't."

Facing a Pistons club that's held its last five opponents to a combined 42.2 percent shooting may not be the best remedy for the Thunder, the league's 28th-ranked shooting team at 43.3 percent.

Oklahoma City, however, could have an edge on the boards against the Pistons, the NBA's 25th-ranked rebounding team at 39.8 per game. Led by a career-high 14 from Jeff Green and season-high 12 from Chris Wilcox, the Thunder grabbed 52 rebounds against the Hawks.

Oklahoma City has outrebounded seven of its last eight opponents, averaging 45.3 boards during this stretch.

Nick Collison, who is averaging 7.0 points and 6.1 rebounds in 2008-09, missed Tuesday's game after breaking his left thumb in the Thunder's 102-91 loss to Cleveland on Sunday. He practiced on Wednesday and could face the Pistons.

Detroit has won 11 of its last 13 home games against the Oklahoma City franchise.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Liquid Slap,

Has anyone hear if AI is back tonight? Or is he sitting this one out?

Under game notes it says no injuries to report..so I assume he is playing.

quote:

Originally posted by Dr. Evil:
Has anyone hear if AI is back tonight? Or is he sitting this one out?

I can't find anything that states a deviation from the norm.

Go Pistons

Prince of swat

Prince needs two blocked shots to become only the 10th player in Pistons history with 300 or more blocked shots.

Prince, who has 17 blocked shots this season, is most remembered for his last-second block of a layup attempt by former Indiana Pacer Reggie Miller in the 2004 playoffs. Detroit went on to win the series over Indiana, as well as the NBA championship that season.

Did the Pistons practice on Christmas?

This must be an easy win.

quote:

Originally posted by Wutang36:
This must be an easy win.

Trap game...

stuckey a bit to excited coming off the 40 points.

who is rodney stuckey?

quote:

Originally posted by AIadvocate:
Just watching this team leads me to believe they're poorly coached. Either they get ready to play and kill teams in the 1st, then Curry screws it up with rotations or they have no plan to start the game and Curry just sits there.

You just realized that?

quote:

Originally posted by Wutang36:
This must be an easy win.

Ha, ha. That's what was said about the Minnesota and Washington games. OKC was pwning the paint early.

quote:

Originally posted by PistonsFanOhio:

quote:

Originally posted by Wutang36:
This must be an easy win.

Ha, ha. That's what was said about the Minnesota and Washington games. OKC was pwning the paint early.

Yeah, everytime we predict an easy game, then seemed to be a difficult one though.
Just like tonight; we still can't find a way to build a comfortable lead.

quote:

Originally posted by Wutang36:

quote:

Originally posted by PistonsFanOhio:

quote:

Originally posted by Wutang36:
This must be an easy win.

Ha, ha. That's what was said about the Minnesota and Washington games. OKC was pwning the paint early.

Yeah, everytime we predict an easy game, then seemed to be a difficult one though.
Just like tonight; we still can't find a way to build a comfortable lead.

Cury's defensive schematics cannot stop a pg from dunking all over us...

Same old problem - Pistons have NO DEFENSE!

i know i didnt just see a freakin PG dunkin twice on us in a row are you freakin kidding me ??

Took me half the game to find a workable link. Looks like the defense is sucking again. Knock those guys driving into the lane down!!!

If I'm Dumars I fire Curry as quickly as possible and hire Gundy.

This might be the first time I've seen a 3-26 team looks so confident.