The Pistons (26-7) will be taking on the Celtics (28-3) at The Palace of Auburn Hills tonight at 7:30 pm est. The game can be viewed locally on TV20 Detroit.

• Both teams are on the second night of back-to-backs
• Neither team has lost since the Dec 19th meeting in Boston
• One major difference is that the Pistons now have Rodney Stuckey in the line up who was still recovering from injury in the first meeting. Definitely look for him to have an impact.


Celtics’ Snapshot
Road record: 12-2
Last game: 01/04 (Fri) W 96-100 Vs. Memphis
Last 10: 9-1

Like Frank the Tank The Pistons are “streaking through the quad into the gymnasium!” Between the Pistons and Celtics you’ve got 19 games worth of consecutive wins. I’m predicting the Pistons get #12 and the Celtics are left looking for answers. It’s been well publicized what happened in the first meeting between the Pistons and Celtics back on December 19th. The Pistons handed the Celtics their first and only home loss to date showing why they, not the Celtics, are the team the Eastern Conference crown goes through.

The Pistons for their part have said that this is just another game. “For them it’s a big game to try and test their team” Rasheed Wallace said on Thursday, and Rip Hamilton echoed the sentiment; “That’s not a game we look at; it’s a game everybody else looks at. When we played them the first time in Boston, it was just another game. That’s how we treated it. We play Toronto, then we play Boston, then we play the next one and the next one. We want to win them all.” Make no mistake though, the Pistons will be up for this one. Not to “prove” anything to Boston. The Pistons have nothing to prove to them. Any revenge, redemption, or payback is squarely on Boston. For the Pistons this game will be for the W. It’ll be to move one game closer to having home court through out the playoffs.

Also See:

• Perkisabeast.com: Showdown in Motown..Er, Auburn Hills
  
• Boston Herald: Green have plenty to prove against Pistons
• BleacherReport.com: Celtics-Pistons Redux: Boston Seeks Revenge in Detroit
• CelticsBlog.com: Rematch of the Beasts of the East
• Detroit Free Press: Pistons set for showdown with Celtics

The Palace recently recorded their 200th consecutive sellout. Here’s a video that highlights all the history that’s gone on since January 19th, 2004, which is a lot! Check it out.

With a game everyone and their brother is looking forward to tonight at the Palace Vs. the Celtics it would have been easy for the Pistons to look past the Raptors but true to their word the Pistons kept their collective focus on the task at hand and secured the team’s league leading 11th straight win.

By half time the Pistons had a 13 point lead but behind big nights from Andrea Bargnani (25 pts.) and Chris Bosh (23 pts. 16 reb.) the Raptors had the lead cut to five going into the fourth quarter.

You’d figure that with only a five point cushion it’d be Mr. Big Shot leading the team into the fourth quarter right? Nope. It was the rook Rodney Stuckey in only his 8th game back from injury who was was handed the reins with a winning streak on the line, and he didn’t disappoint. He sandwiched two steals around a Jason Maxiell basket and just like that the Pistons were up by eleven and and the Raptors were deflated. All that was left was Chauncey “The Closer” to come in and manage the the win.

Also big in the fourth was the defense of Jason Maxiell. Bargnani had 25 points when the fourth quarter started and that’s the same number he ended the game with, missing the one shot he attempted in the final quarter.

Does 16 points still count as a blowout? With the exchange rate it’s actually a 16.0192 point win if that helps.

Game Notes:

• Man-hugging: Apparently there’s a quite a few BFF’s between the Pistons and Raptors rosters
• Sheed passes Zeke: Rasheed Wallace’s triple with 1:06 put him at No. 6 on the all-time Pistons list in 3-pointers made, surpassing Isiah Thomas.
• Rip’s 20 x 6: Rip Hamilton has scored 20 or more in the Pistons last 6 games
• Consecutive wins: This is the franchise’s 4th 11 game win streak (first since 05/06). The record for consecutive Piston wins is 13
• Pattern of donimance: The Pistons have beaten the Raptors in 10 of the last 11 meetings
• Jarvis > Delfino: Jarvis played 14 minutes scoring some very timely buckets finishing with 8 points (3/7 FG, 2/3 3pt) Deflino had a rough night going scoreless on 0/4 shooting and a -9 +/- stat.

[Box score] Munchies:

• 5 Pistons in double figures
• Mr Efficiency Rip Hamilton: 22 pts. 8/11 from the floor & 6/6 from the line to go with his 4 asts. & 4 boards
• Tay with a 10 point 11 rebound double-double
• Chauncey: 18 points 9 assists
• Sheed: 20 points (5/7 from 3pt line)
• Dice with 12 boards
• Stuckey: 8 pts, 6 asts, 2 stls
• Board war won 47-36
• 50% team 3 point shooting
• Both teams take care of the ball combine for only 11 total to’s (DP 7, TR 4)
• Detroit 50.6% from the floor, Toronto 41.2%
• Free throw shooting: DP 83.3%, TR 63.6%
• No Raptors with a positive +/- stat

Also See:

• Detroit News: Stuckey helps Pistons’ streak reach 11
• Pistons.com: Pistons 101, Raptors 85