The Pistons (23-51, 16-22 home) will be playing host to the Phoenix Suns (49-26) Tip off is 8:00 pm est from the Palace of Auburn Hills and will be televised locally on FS Detroit. Listen live on 97.1 fm.
Suns’ Snapshot
Road record: 20-17
Vs. East: 18-10
Last game: 3/31 (Thurs) W 116-105 @ Nets
Last 10: 9-1
Streak: Won 9
Vs. Pistons: Nov. 22nd – Pistons (91) @ SUNS (117)
Injuries: Robin Lopez (back: out indefinitely)
The Palace will play host to the NBA’s current longest winning streak and longest losing streak tonight when the Suns take on the Pistons. The Pistons have lost 9 straight, the Suns have been on the winning end of their last 9 games.
High powered offenses are just murder on the Pistons. Detroit doesn’t have the scoring punch to go up and down the court with Phoenix and they don’t have the defensive chops to slow Phoenix down. Another factor that has me wincing is that Phoenix, having a chance to improve their playoff seeding, has not been showing their lesser opponents any mercy.
The debacle that is this season has a new wrinkle to it. It seems that Charlie Villanueva’s lack of consistency on both ends of the court -more so defense- has finally landed him in John Kuester’s dog house. Vill got a DNP-CD against the Heat that Charlie says caught him by surprise. It’s a bitter pill for Pistons’ fans to swallow seeing a $35 million free agent acquisition out of the rotation. Makes you wonder how far behind Villanueva will Ben Gordon and his $55 million contract be.
The silver lining is that two not as well paid rookies, DaJuan Summers and Austin Daye have seen increases in minutes and have shown some real promise.
Injury updates:
Rip Hamilton (ankle) and Jason Maxiell (back) are questionable tonight. Ben Wallace is still listed as day-to-day after making a surprise appearance against the Heat on Tuesday.
Foul Shots:
Click to enlarge
ALSO OF NOTE: The Suns are an 8 1/2 point favorite … Grant Hill & J-Rich liking the MI weather … Alvin Gentry was the WC Coach of the Month for March, Suns went 12-2 … Steve Nash is the NBA’s top assister (11.1), plus he scores just under 17 a game … Ben Wallace lost $1 million on the sale of his Chicago area home … Suns are a league best 18-4 since the all-star break … Valley of the Suns preview … Happy bday to former Pistons Larry Drew (1981-82) and Isaiah Morris (1992-93) … The Pistons have lost by an average of 14.1 points during their 9 game skid … The Suns won the last 3 meetings w/ Pistons by an average of 18 pts … Suns are first in the league in scoring at 110.5, and second in FG% .491 …
Original Story:
http://pistonsnationblog.com/2010/04/...
