Houston (13-14) at Detroit (19-7)

By MATT BECKER, STATS Writer

Since having one of their worst performances of the season in last week's loss to the Houston Rockets, the Detroit Pistons have been on a roll.

The Central Division-leading Pistons look to match a season high with their fifth straight win when they face the Rockets again at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Sunday.

Detroit (19-7) owns a five-game lead over second-place Indiana in the Central, but the Pistons hardly looked like the three-time defending division champions in their 80-77 loss at Houston on Dec. 12. Detroit shot a season-low 36.1 percent from the floor en route to its lowest point total of the season.

Since that loss, however, the Pistons have won four straight games - including an 87-85 road upset of the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Celtics on Wednesday - by an average margin of 15.3 points.

On Friday night, Detroit outscored Memphis 52-29 after halftime to pull away for a 94-67 win over the Grizzlies. The 67 points allowed were a season low for the Pistons, who also forced a season-high 23 turnovers.

They have allowed 87 points or fewer in each of the last five games.

Rookies Arron Afflalo had a career-high 12 points on Friday, while rookie Rodney Stuckey made his NBA debut in the fourth quarter and finished with two points. Stuckey, the 15th overall pick in the draft, had missed the first 25 games with a broken hand.

"It was good to get a couple minutes under my belt," he said. "I need some practice, though. I've got to get my wind back."

Detroit has not been swept in a season series by Houston since 2000-01, which was also the last season it lost to the Rockets at the Palace. The Pistons are outscoring Houston by an average of 13.7 points during their six-game home winning streak in the series.

Detroit has won four straight games overall at the Palace to improve to 10-2 at home this season. The Rockets, meanwhile, have lost eight of their last 12 road games.

However, Houston (13-14) won 116-98 at Chicago on Saturday - its first victory in four games since defeating the Pistons. The Rockets improved to 1-1 on their four-game trip, which concludes Friday at Memphis.

Tracy McGrady had 20 points and eight assists Saturday in his return to the Rockets' lineup after missing Thursday's 112-111 double-overtime loss to Denver because of a bruised knee.

"It was sore a little bit when I was doing some cutting but it loosened up. I think taping it put a little pressure there and made it feel pretty good. It was fine," said McGrady, who had 29 points in last week's win over Detroit.

The Rockets got 51 points from their bench on Saturday - nearly double their average of 26.3 points from the reserves over the previous four games.

"We're starting to turn the corner if we can get the bench to play like that," McGrady said.

Yao Ming had 18 points and eight rebounds against the Bulls, but sprained his right thumb in the third quarter. X-rays were negative, and the Houston center returned in the fourth. Yao is averaging 27 points and 12 boards in three games against Detroit since the start of last season.

Houston is looking to win consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 5 and 7.

After this game, they're off until Wednesday.

Fuck.

We shouldn't lose to these guys. we are just too hot right now

After this game, they're off until Wednesday.

Fuck.
Bad news for fanatical basketball watching, good news for actually winning games with a team full of codgers.

who the hell is a "codger" on this team, aside from Hunter?

33 is hardly ancient in the NBA, especially if you're a big man.

Pistons vs. Rockets Gameday

:langlois:
by Keith Langlois

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

Last Meeting: Houston won 80-77 (December 12, 2007)

The skinny: The Pistons’ 80-77 loss at Houston on Dec. 12 got a little chippy, which Pistons head coach Flip Saunders partially attributed to his team playing on the road for a second consecutive night. Now that it’s Houston turn to play Detroit at the end of a back-to-back, Saunders said, “I think it will probably get a little testy again.”

Not that the Rockets have anything to be upset about. Last night, they scored a season-high 116 points in a 116-98 drubbing of the Bulls in Chicago, snapping a three-game skid. The Rockets led by 25 points and had the game in hand by the start of the fourth.

If the tightly contested Dec. 12 meeting is any indication, Saunders doesn’t mind if his team has a bit of edge coming in. “When you’re playing against Yao and those guys, if you’re not really intense, he’s going to take advantage of you,” he said.

Yao Ming had 18 points and eight rebounds but also sprained his right thumb in Chicago. X-rays were negative and he even returned briefly in the fourth. The Pistons did a commendable job defensively on Yao two weeks ago. The 7-foot-6 center scored 21 points on 9-for-21 shooting in 44 minutes.

“7-6 is somewhat kind of hard to get a good contest on his shot,” said Antonio McDyess Saturday. “We just try to get up into him and at least give him some kind of contest. I think the first half we did a pretty good job on him; the second half he was kind of making some tough shots. … Tomorrow we’re going to try to make it even a little tougher for him.”

The Rockets won Dec. 12 despite flirting with NBA infamy, making one of their first 15 free-throw attempts before finishing 6-of-22. “I don’t think it will be that good (again),” Saunders said of his team’s free-throw shooting defense. “Unless we can put a lid on the rim, because that’s about what it was like.”

What to watch: Tracy McGrady’s gait. The Rockets’ leading scorer has a sore left knee, which has limited his availability in recent games. Saturday he had 20 points and eight assists in 30 minutes and, like Yao, returned briefly in the fourth. That said, knee soreness doesn’t go away overnight, and playing on consecutive nights probably isn’t what the doctor ordered. Preparing for the Rockets without knowing McGrady’s status only slightly complicates matters, McDyess said.

“It’s tough,” he said. “We just try to stick to our philosophy from the last game. If he plays, we stick to our basic principles: trying to get ball out of his hands, try to make it tough for him. If he don’t play, we always focus on Yao. That’s the guy that’s going to get all the touches and be the main focus of their offense.”

Also be on the lookout for bench scoring; neither team had much of it Dec. 12. The Rockets’ bench outscored Detroit’s 14-11. Jason Maxiell accounted for nine points and also had some bright defensive moments on Yao.

Revenge time.

She Mac leaves with some injury, Pistons roll.

After this game, they're off until Wednesday.

Fuck.
Actually, this should be a good thing.
Get the new guys practicing "the book" against the regulars.
It also let's Stucky get back in the groove.
Good evaluation time for the coaches.
IMO, the backup SF position is wide open... maybe they could put these practices on PPV.

I want me some Stuckeyball tonight.

good point about Stuckey getting some practice time with the long break, mercury.

Just in terms of watching the Pistons it sucks that they'll be off til Wednesday AGAIN! I like the looks of those back to back games vs the Pacers.

Pistons are changing my mind as far as 'same ol Pistons'. I'm lovin the way they're playing, but they need to do this in the playoffs.

What injury do you think McGrady has tonight that causes him to leave?

Strained back with a touch of a migraine.

"groin pull"

BREZEC!

I really should get off that Brezec shit.

Dice kinda looks like Oden

Remind me to go to the store to pick up some Febrezec.

Ha ha

*slaps knee*

that is a knee-slapper

This game is already over.

I'd a loved to hear what Sheed and Bonzi were yappin about.

TMac can't hang for an entire game. Let him get off early and he'll be invisible in the 4th.

Let him get his points before he leaves.

Yao's team rapes his shooting percentage. They keep getting screwed by picking up their dribble and then just shoving the ball into Yao's hands because their fucked.

Nice buzzer beater.

"Nothing but sweet string music there" blaha on Sheeds swisher

Another T? Who got Td up?

Bonzi...never mind

That was the BEST tournaround jumper I've seen MM do to date.

MM with another jumper. If he can develop that or make it on a consistent basis, the sky is the limit. He could slide to the 3 if needed. Or does he already?

Max eats McGrady.

lol @ Hayes' FT shooting form

Stuckey time!

Primo-helplessnes.

Stuck with not a great possession there and the bench is not finishing this half off very good.

Saunders being a bitch to the camera man. Camera guy couldn't tell if he was being shooed away of if Flip was just twitching at him.

Yao caught Rip's shot like it was a pass. Who blew the fuck out of Battier's eye?

I think it was Dirk last week sometime.

That must have been on accident then. Dirk has no backbone.

What injury do you think McGrady has tonight that causes him to leave?

Kelser..."TMac noticably limping with an ankle"

He probably left to the back during the timeout.

Nice energy out of the half from Sheed. Missed a shot but got a steal and a great fast break outlet pass to Rip.

Mailman is on the ball. Tasty McGravy in the locker room.

ahahahahaha

This is the sheed im liking

He has to back up that yappin

More nice hustle from Sheed. knocking the ball back.

Sheed and hustle don't usually get used in the same sentence.

Players should pull the chair more often.

LOL the entire Houston Rocket team has gone back to the locker room.

Next...

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/7418/wcyd8.jpg

Did you see MM on that shot he missed. He had a wide open jumper and instaed did a this and a that and then missed the shot. He needs to gain confidence in that straight up jumper and the sky is limit for the youngster. I mean he's making it from everywhere tonight.

Mike James is in the HAAAAAAAOUSE!

They just ran an iso for Max against Motumbo.

Odd that.

I don't know why I thought MM was pretty much done getting better. He can be even bigger for us.

Continuing the I don't know why I...theme....I don't know why I had pretty much wrote off Battier. He is a good guy and has game, no attitude, etc.

Amiracle blocks Dikembe. All ball on that.

What a luxury having a bench like ours. We can take out our rotational players for garbage time too. I'm talking bout MM. AJ, Brezec and Hayes down low.

Amir looks lost on offense.

Stuckey with a nice feed to Brezec for the flush.

Stuckey with a nice set-up.

Stuckey, AA, Hayes, AJ and Brezec. Amazing. The Kings would love to have these guys.

Stuckey was either forcing or too tentative, couldn't find the balance (except on that nice look to Brezec). That will come with time, I'm sure. Mad Max was great, and Amir looked more lost than usual... It doesn't help that it seems like, in garbage time, it's all improvisation play-wise.

As far as the game overall... Nice win, nice effort by Rasheed.

as much talent as amir has, i think getting any results from him would be a an unexpected bonus. not that im criticizing joe for signing him, cuz i like the contract we gave him, but he pretty much took the worst road to our squard possible.

couple that with the fact that dude was playing around with guns right before he was set to become a free agent.

amir would hardly be the most talented player to wash out of the nba. im not predicting that for him, but at this point if i had to guess between washing out and being the pistons' first max contract, i'd lean towards washing out.

oh yea, i wouldnt make any judgments on stucky for a bit. im not sure how well conditioned he is right now, but theres got to be a ton of rust, plus he needs to learn the system still.

Dwyane Wade > Tracy McLazyeye

Stuckey was either forcing or too tentative, couldn't find the balance (except on that nice look to Brezec). That will come with time, I'm sure. Mad Max was great, and Amir looked more lost than usual... It doesn't help that it seems like, in garbage time, it's all improvisation play-wise.

As far as the game overall... Nice win, nice effort by Rasheed.
i see that too from Stuckey. i'm sure he feels some pressure to make up for lost time.

i think the great part of Afflalo is that he's already found that balance of letting the game come to him, rarely forcing shots. i imagine that stuckey will find his groove soon. he needs to take some pressure off of himself. it's only been two games afterall. we saw flashes of some great play right at the end of the the preseason, when he found his shooting stroke.

once that starts clicking, our 2nd unit is going to be downright lethal. no more "treading water" while the starters are out, they're going to dominate some other teams' benches.

Stuckey is entering the thinking part of the apprenticeship... I'm sure Chauncey is in his ear a lot... he will need to transition from a scorer to a scorer/distributor. His hestitation is a natural progression... a neccessary evil.
Murray never did IT.
New PG's should be given extra time to adjust... Just chucking is the easy part.

Stuckey didn't really look bad. He looked like he did at the beginning of preseason...just really unfamiliar with how the offense is run.

Pistons were booed pretty loudly at the end of the game. 1 point away from free subway subs and they let the clock run out. I know they always do that, but the fans weren't very understanding.

Really happy I shelled out the bucks for season tickets this year. The pregame intros alone are worth the price of admission.