Pistons @ Nets – Preview
Posted by pistonsnationThe Pistons (36-38, 17-19 road) will be in New Jersey to take on the Nets (30-44) Tip off is 7:30 pm est from the IZOD Center and will be televised locally on Fox Sports Detroit.
Nets’ Snapshot
Home record: 15-22
Last game: 03/30 (Mon) L 107-78 vs. Bucks
Last 10: 2-8
Streak: Lost 5
Injuries: Bobby Simmons (Back, Day-to-Day), Eduardo Najera (Abdomen, Out for the Season)
Vs. Pistons: Nov. 7th – Pistons (96) @ NETS (103) / Dec. 31st Nets (75) @ PISTONS (83)
Tonight the Pistons and Nets will tangle for Eastern Conference supremacy. Ok, the prerequisite April Fool’s pun is taken care of.
By virtue of their conference the Pistons are still parked in the playoff’s 7th seed with slim leads over the Bulls and Bobcats. They can put a little space between themselves and the other two if they’re able to extend the Nets losing streak to 6 tonight.
I fully expect Michael Curry to cave under Iverson’s minute scrutiny. Even without the 100-pound truck on his back do not expect the quickness of Devin Harris (22.2 ppg, 7 apg) not to be able to expose Iverson on the defensive end as he’s done in the previous matchups.
The Pistons will of course be without Rasheed Wallace after he picked up his 16th tech on the season – automatic one game suspension – after only one game back from his calf injury that had sidelined him in the Pistons previous 11. To which Rasheed seems really remorseful about:
“I don’t care,“ he said. “That (stuff) doesn’t faze me. That’s what happens when you speak the truth.“
ALSO OF NOTE: Only 8 games left in the regular season … 7 of 8 remaining games against sub .500 teams … Sheed & Rip alma mater schmack talk’n … Hoop Doctors does the open letter thing to Piston blogs getting down on AI … Five Magazine’s Q&A with Iverson … Pistons 1 1/2 point favorites tonight … IZOD Center worst NBA arena? … Pistons have beat Nets 8 of last 9 … Delayed Brooklyn arena development is co$ting the Nets …
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 at 2:16 pm and is filed under Game preview, Nets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Tangent: I hated Rasheed before he was a Piston. I thought he was a complete idiot. Now, I love him, and I’ve wanted him to retire in the Red, White, and Pistons blue. I’ve now realized he’s actually a very intelligent player and a wonderful teammate. But, should we not resign him, I won’t miss his drama.
To the point:
If Lopez and Harris both play well (as they have against us in the past), then it could be a long night.
With no Sheed on the inside and porous exterior and interior defenses, we shouldn’t underestimate the Nets.
They are a tough match-up for us, and we need to play really well.
I’d like to see Stuckey use his strength on the inside. I’d like to see some set plays actually run — because our offense works best that way. And I’d like to see some ball and player movement — see above.
April 1st, 2009 at 2:24 pm