Pistons at Mavericks Gameday

:langlois:
by Keith Langlois

TV: TV20 Detroit | Radio: WDFN 1130 AM - The Fan

Last Meeting: Dallas won 92-88 (March 18, 2007)

The skinny: In Dallas’ loss to Houston on Thursday night, the only notable Mavs to play were Devin Harris and Jason Terry, and they only combined to play for 25 minutes and produced four points. Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard, Jerry Stackhouse, Erick Dampier and DeSagana Diop all sat out, though Diop did so due to illness and might be able to play tonight against the Pistons. We’ll see what the rest of Avery Johnson’s lineup looks like. The big news in Dallas this week has been reacting to the buzz that Kobe Bryant is on the trading block and that the Mavs, supposedly, are one of Bryant’s two preferred landing spots, Chicago the other. Dallas is 2-3 in the preseason.

What to watch: The Pistons took Thursday off after winning in Grand Rapids on Wednesday night. Amir Johnson made the trip to Texas for tonight’s game with the Mavs and Saturday’s with San Antonio and said he hoped to get some minutes, even though he hasn’t practiced since spraining his ankle two weeks ago. He took part in pregame shooting and drills in Grand Rapids for a solid hour and seemed to be moving pain-free. Expect Flip Saunders to continue easing back the starters’ minutes this weekend. After that, the Pistons play just one more preseason game – Wednesday at home against Washington.

bump?

Oh, there's a game on tonight? Cool.

These 8:30 starts are kinda nice, the kids are all in bed, no distractions.

I'm making me a big ass chicken burrito and I've got 6 ice cold Newcastles calling my name.

Top it off with a little Amir Johnson PT and I might be in heaven.

Josh Howard is playing like he feels disrespected tonight.

Just tuning in. Any Amir PT yet?

He's not going to play until he practices, sounds like it might be a few days yet.

Avery Johnson looks like he's trying out for a role as an extra on Sanford & Son.

Does it seem like Dallas blows us out a lot to anyone else?

Jarvis has a pretty nice shot. I didn't see it too much last week in person, but the little I've seen on TV has looked great.

Does it seem like Dallas blows us out a lot to anyone else?

Yes.

Does it seem like the Pistons need to start putting the ball in the hoop early on the road to anyone else?

Yes.

Does it seem like the Pistons need to start putting the ball in the hoop early on the road to anyone else?

Yes.

On the positive side, I'm glad some of our bench guys are getting some burn against Dallas' top guys. That will only help them develop. Hopefully Flip realizes that our bench actually nedds to play in order to develop.

Dallas wants to win pretty badly