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Detroit (5-1) at Portland (3-3)


By MIKE LIPKA, STATS Writer

Since the Portland Trail Blazers traded away Rasheed Wallace, they've yet to beat him or the Detroit Pistons at the Rose Garden.

Wallace and the Pistons will go for their fifth straight win in Portland on Tuesday, looking to continue a streak that began about two weeks after Wallace arrived in Detroit in February 2004.

The Blazers dealt Wallace to Atlanta that month, and the Hawks sent him to Detroit about a week later. Since then, Portland (3-3) has given its roster a complete makeover, and its current starting five has an average age about seven years younger than Detroit's.

Even with two of their big names - Greg Oden and Darius Miles - recovering from microfracture knee surgery, Portland's young group will be looking for its fourth straight win Tuesday. The Blazers only had one winning streak of four or longer all of last season.

After starting 2007-08 with road losses at San Antonio, New Orleans and Houston, the Blazers have allowed just 90.0 points per game in winning three straight at home.

Brandon Roy has averaged 23.7 points during the run, and on a night when he officially received his Rookie of the Year trophy from last season, Roy scored a career-high 32 and had seven assists in a 91-82 win over Dallas Saturday -- Portland's first over the Mavericks in 14 tries.

"I think Brandon had one of his better games from wire-to-wire. I didn't think he forced it," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "I thought he developed a flow to his game throughout."

Second-year forward LaMarcus Aldridge has also emerged as a force during the homestand, averaging 20.0 points per game. Aldridge, a 6-foot-11 forward who averaged 9.0 points last season, matched a career high with 30 against Memphis last week.

Thirty has a different significance for Detroit - it's the average age of the Pistons' starting five, compared to 23 for Portland. But they've been churning out wins regardless, including a 3-1 mark on the road to start this season.

The Pistons are in the midst of a five-game West Coast swing, which they started with a 107-103 win at Seattle Sunday. Detroit (5-1) squandered a 23-point lead, but still held on for the win behind 32 points from Richard Hamilton and 15 points and 15 rebounds from Antonio McDyess.

"We had spurts of great basketball," Hamilton said. "Early in the season, it's really tough to put 48 minutes together. But I thought we did a great job."

Hamilton, Detroit's scoring leader the last five seasons, again tops the Pistons' balanced attack. After missing the first two games of the season to tend to a family matter, he's averaged 20.3 points.

Five other Pistons average at least 9.0 points per game, including Wallace (15.3) and Chauncey Billups (17.5).

Portland and Detroit are two of the better-shooting teams in the NBA. The Blazers are making 46.7 percent of their shots from the field to rank sixth in the league, just ahead of the Pistons' 46.4 percent.

The Blazers are 2-6 in their last eight games against Detroit, with both wins coming on the road. Wallace has averaged just 11.5 points in four visits to Portland since being traded.

LaMarcus Aldridge can play some ball.

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Pistons at Trail Blazers Gameday

:langlois:
by Keith Langlois

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

Last Meeting: Portland won 88-85 (December 5, 2006)

The skinny: After a 0-3 start, Portland comes into tonight’s game on a three-game winning streak that coincides with two changes to the starting lineup made by Nate McMillan – Steve Blake in for Jarrett Jack at point guard and Channing Frye for Joel Przybilla at center, though Frye’s role remains limited and Jack is still playing significant minutes, often in tandem with Blake while Brandon Roy swings to small forward. Second-year pros Roy (20.7 points, 6.0 assists) and LeMarcus Aldridge (19.2 points, 7.7 rebounds) are the guts of the team, while forward Martell Webster – in his third year out of high school – is much better, averaging nearly 15 points and shooting 41 percent from the 3-point arc. Another ex-high schooler, Travis Outlaw, is hitting his stride, averaging 7.3 points in about 23 minutes a game off the bench.

What to watch: Like the Seattle team that came all the way back from 23 down to tie before losing in the final two minutes as the Pistons started their five-game West Coast tour on Sunday, Portland is young and athletic with stronger backcourt play and more depth. The Trail Blazers held Dallas to just 82 points in winning on Saturday, so it would appear McMillan has them playing better defense these days. The Pistons have struggled to get both Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince rolling simultaneously since Hamilton has returned from his ankle injury and a two-game absence to attend to the birth of his son, but Prince would figure to have success going at Webster if the Pistons choose to work that matchup. With Zach Randolph traded and Greg Oden out for the year, the Blazers are fairly thin up front, another area the Pistons could exploit.

Keith doing a little coaching in there.

He's very versatile.

Boo Portland!

Hooray Steve Blake!
http://www.baltimoresun.com/media/photo/2007-08/31819647.jpg

Look at those pythons, brother!

Just wait until someone comes over and puts some weight on the machine for him!

Ps6z3RwYdm8

I was at the Palace for that game. A bunch of us from school loaded up three cars and took off. It was a great party and the place exploded with that shot. And I think that's first time I can remember seeing it again.

99-94 Blazers.

Pistons blow a 105-87 lead in overtime, lose.

Pistons usually dominate when they play at the Rose Garden...

I'll take Detroit in a close one...probably will be down for most of the game and have a solid 4th and steal one from the Nate McMillans...

I see this being a low scoring game honestly, in the high 70's to low or mid 80's.

I say we play decent early then start to give it away at the end but manage to hold on.

93-89

Pistons large.

Well, I'm happy to see that I am in the minority in thinking that the Pistons lose tonight.

I would be very pleased to be wrong.

I'll probably catch the first 10 minutes or so before bed and the highlights on ESPN News in the morning. 5 am comes early.

Pistons blow a 105-87 lead in overtime, lose.


Alpacas: 0

Pistons take this one.

I think we're more likely to lose to Golden State tomorrow (who we went 0-2 Vs. last year) than we are to lose to Portland tonight...

Havent seen the SnailBlazers play yet, so no prediction on my end.

How about a shirt with "Bend Over" on the front and a chair on the back?

Havent seen the SnailBlazers play yet, so no prediction on my end.

You've got a 50/50 chance. Go ahead, chime in. Its not like any of us are smart like Kenny the Jet Smith.

You've got a 50/50 chance. Go ahead, chime in. Its not like any of us are smart like Kenny the Jet Smith.
I'd like to know more about a team before i make a prediction. That and i'm superstitious.

lol Sheed put a nasty pick on Jarrett Jack...

Still booing Sheed?

My opinion of Flip is going from bad to worse.

Same old Pistons.

Outlaw can play some ball.

Hopefully Chauncey's knee is ok.

I believe it's his hip

Portland's fans are really into the game tonight.

I believe it's his hip
Yeah I meant that.
Fuck.

This whole game.
Fuck.

SICK layup.

Waiting for the tech on Rasheed.

Damn MSU cut the cable at midnight

Nazis.

I'm looking like a fool for throwing 500 pacas on the Pistons tonight.

Damn MSU cut the cable at midnight
It wasn't worth watching afterwards.

I blame the red jerseys, I hate those fucking jerseys.

I'm looking like a fool for throwing 500 pacas on the Pistons tonight.

I'm never putting alpacas on the Pistons again.

no shame in losing to the blazers on the road. my #2 team for the second streight season. fun, young, talented, and likeable. talk about a 180 from just 2 full seasons ago.

where the fuck is pnf? his team just butt fucked ours.

when richard hamiltons off, tay plays much better...

I'm sure glad that Flip is keeping our starter's minutes down with the great bench we have... oh he's not?

Prince: 42 minutes
McDyess: 29 minutes
Wallace: 41 minutes
Hamilton: 40 minutes
Billips: 33 minutes

And how did we let the freaking Blazers shoot 55%?

Did you know max's minutes + hayes minutes+ nazrs minutes are still less than 3/5 of our starters? I;m sure billups wouldve logged in +40 if he didn't get that injugry too.

What a joke of a 4th quarter, seems like they were stuck on 84 FOREVER!!!! Whats with the running down the floor and shooting up a prayer with 22 seconds left on the shot clock???? RIP!

they better rebound tonite and blow out GS

I thought it was a good performance last night.




....by Portland.

Ouch.

Severity of the Billups injury, anyone?

And how many of you voted for the Blazers to win after the game was already over? lol

All of them. Fucking bootlicking rednecks, I tell ya.

When did Billups get hurt?? I turned it off w/ one minute to go and Chauncey was still in the game...

Chauncey was hobbling, though, and Dice wasn't playing much owing to his shoulder.

I'm sure glad that Flip is keeping our starter's minutes down with the great bench we have... oh he's not?

Prince: 42 minutes
McDyess: 29 minutes
Wallace: 41 minutes
Hamilton: 40 minutes
Billips: 33 minutes

And how did we let the freaking Blazers shoot 55%?

I'm sure everrything will work out when Stuckey comes back!!! Really, it will! Flip will just stop coaching the way he has for 2 seasons before this one! IT'LL HAPPEN!!!

(I think we're about due for a few articles from Piston Org. PR writers, err I mean local media sports writers, about why this is good and will be fixed soon, and oh, how the minutes really dont matter)

(I think we're about due for a few articles from Piston Org. PR writers, err I mean local media sports writers, about why this is good and will be fixed soon, and oh, how the minutes really dont matter)

http://wtfdetroit.com/forums/showpost.php?p=199875&postcount=2

CBill if fine, imo. He didn't even come out of the game when he took the knee to the hip...or did I miss another injury?

Blazers shot lights out. We didn't get that sense of urgency till 3 mins left...roughly. Same old Pistons.

Somebody needs to post an OGT for tonight's game, yo.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Blazers 102, Pistons 94

:langlois:
by Keith Langlois

Records: Pistons 5-2; Portland 4-3
Next: Pistons at Golden State, 10:30 p.m. Wednesday

Beaten and Battered
Rasheed Wallace projected Portland as being years away from the playoffs, but his ex-team is going to push that timetable severely if it keeps refusing to lose at home. The young Trail Blazers, expected to be a lottery lock after losing No. 1 pick Greg Oden for the season, improved to a perfect 4-0 at the Rose Garden on Tuesday night by winning their fourth straight game, pulling away from the Pistons in the fourth quarter for a 102-94 win. The challenge for the Pistons will be to stop the bleeding in Portland: Three starters (Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton) played 40-plus minutes and the other two (Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess) suffered injuries that put their status for Wednesday night’s game at Golden State in doubt.

FLIP SAUNDERS: “I’d like to point to something we did really well, (but) their bench hurt us, their bigs hurt us, (Brandon) Roy hurt us, their guards hurt us off penetration – (Jarrett) Jack, (Sergio) Rodriguez and (Steve) Blake. They totally outplayed us. They shot the heck out of the ball and they really, pretty much, kept the tempo of the game. I didn’t feel we were in sync. It was never one of those where we felt we had control of the game.”


The story of the game in Pistons red, white and blue
– The building blocks for Portland’s renaissance – aside for the 7-foot Oden, a defensive difference-maker – are second-year lottery picks LeMarcus Aldridge and Roy. And they were at their best in the third quarter when Portland outscored the Pistons 24-21, evenly splitting 20 points. Roy made all five of his shots, Aldridge 5 of 9. Aldridge finished with 22, Roy with 20.

SAUNDERS: “(Aldridge) kicked our butts in the second half. He might have missed one shot – didn’t miss very many. Hitting perimeter shots, posting up, did a little bit of everything.”

Blue Collar – There were two journeyman free-agent centers available in the summer of 2005 that Joe Dumars considered when Ben Wallace left the Pistons to sign with Chicago. They met Wednesday night in Portland. Joel Przybilla, who supposedly told confidantes he was leery of becoming the man to replace Big Ben in Detroit, got the better of Nazr Mohammed with eight points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes compared to Mohammed’s two points and one board in five minutes. Mohammed didn’t play after halftime.

Red Flag – Antonio McDyess’ troublesome left shoulder acted up on him midway through the fourth quarter and Chauncey Billups wasn’t sure which hurt more – his left hip or his left knee. McDyess has stretched ligaments in the shoulder and was in obvious pain as strength coach Arnie Kander manipulated the shoulder on the sideline. Billups – who went over 10,000 career points in the first half – took a Channing Frye knee to the hip in the third quarter while making a circus shot, then twisted his knee a few minutes later upon returning to the game.

BILLUPS: “It’s hurting. Took a weird little fall, twisted my knee up a couple of plays after (hurting his hip). It’s a little banged up, but hopefully I’ll be all right. Hip pointer. Something really sharp hit me when I jumped in, hit me right on the that bone.”

Pivotal plays, frozen moments and lasting images from Portland’s win
Rock Solid – That doesn’t just describe Rasheed Wallace’s sublime all-around play so far this season – he had 15 points, six boards and four assists Tuesday – but the first-quarter backcourt screen he set on Jarrett Jack that allowed Billups (19 points, nine assists) to advance the ball without resistance upcourt. Jack, the solidly built third-year point guard, crumpled to the floor. Down one defender, the Blazers left Wallace unguarded as he trailed the play. Billups found him immediately and Wallace knocked down his second consecutive triple to put the Pistons ahead 24-19. On Detroit’s next possession, he scored his third 3-pointer of the quarter to push Detroit’s lead to eight.

Monitoring Minutes – Saunders, mindful that the Pistons on Wednesday night will be playing their third game in four nights in the back-to-back at Golden State – which has been idle since losing to Dallas last Thursday – went to his bench earlier than usual against the Blazers. Arron Afflalo, who didn’t play at Seattle, came in for Rip Hamilton with 4:45 left in the first quarter. But with the game within a few baskets either way for pretty much the whole night, Saunders didn’t dip too deeply after that. Nobody off the bench wound up playing more than Jarvis Hayes’ 16 minutes.

Oops – Hamilton (14 points, seven rebounds) missed at least four layups, including one on the Pistons’ first possession of the game when Wallace – whose three first-quarter 3-pointers kept the Pistons on top early – hit him with a perfect high-post feed and another on Detroit’s last possession of the game, which pretty much summed things up.

BILLUPS: “We missed a lot of easy shots, missed a lot of layups as a team. We played ’em close the whole time until the fourth quarter and it starts to catch up with you when you’re missing so many chippies. (Hamilton) missed like five dead layups. That’s not Rip. But it happens. Hopefully, we can bounce back tomorrow.”

A little perspective on the Portland loss
The Pistons were scheduled to arrive in the Bay Area in the middle of the night, dragging their feet – and their ice bags. They’ll be tired and sore and ripe for the taking against a rested Golden State team thirsting for its first win of the season. In other words, the Pistons have ’em right where they want ’em. That’s the history of this team – when the deck is stacked against them, they consistently summon their best and most focused effort. If Billups is out or limited, it probably means more touches and time at point guard for Tayshaun Prince (team-high 20 points plus six rebounds at Portland) – who’s thrived in similar circumstances. And if McDyess rests his ailing shoulder, it might create the opportunity Amir Johnson has awaited. Should be interesting against the team that blew out the Pistons in both meetings last season.

I wouldn't mind seeing them rest McDyess and bring in Amir a bit. Give him some run at the beginning of the season to let him learn. And I've always liked the idea of letting Tay run the point a bit.