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Detroit (5-5) at Philadelphia (4-5)

Game Info: 7:00 pm EST
Tue Nov 21, 2006

By PAUL DiGIACOMO, STATS Senior Editor

The Detroit Pistons look to continue their domination of the Philadelphia 76ers and win a season-high third straight game when the teams meet Tuesday at the Wachovia Center.

Detroit has won three in a row against Philadelphia and eight of the last nine meetings, and is coming off back-to-back home victories over Washington and Houston.

The Pistons avoided a third straight loss with a 100-91 win over the Wizards on Friday before beating the Rockets 104-92 the next night. Detroit (5-5) is back at .500 after its worst start in six years.

Richard Hamilton has led the way for the Pistons in their last two victories, totaling 57 points. He had a season-high 30 on 11-of-18 shooting from the field against Houston.

"I'm always in a comfort level, but this is about being aggressive right out of the gate," he said. "I'm going hard, instead of waiting for it."

Chauncey Billups added 23 points Saturday for Detroit, which will be trying to hold an opponent under 100 points for a season-best third straight game Tuesday.

"This team is still finding its identity," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "We felt like we might go through some tough times early, because of our schedule. But it is good to see that the starters are getting into a rhythm, and that we're only a game or two behind where we had hoped to be."

Philadelphia (4-5) has lost two straight and five of six after beginning the season with three consecutive victories.

The Sixers snapped a season-high three-game losing streak with a 96-90 win over Seattle on Wednesday in the opener of a three-game trip. Philadelphia, though, lost the last two contests, including a 103-97 defeat in overtime to the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night.

Philadelphia opened the game with a 25-9 run, but couldn't overcome the absence of Chris Webber as the Clippers took control by outrebounding the Sixers 49-33.

"This was a game we were supposed to have," said Allen Iverson, who had 29 points and nine assists. "We went up 16 points and we tried to fix something that wasn't broken. We let them back in the game. We had all the momentum going our way, and then we switched up what we were doing."

Webber, who sat out with stiffness in his back, is having a trying season. He has expressed frustration with his limited role, and is averaging 10.0 points on 38.4 percent shooting in 29.4 minutes -- well off his career averages of 21.5 points on 47.9 percent shooting in 37.9 minutes.

"The focus has been on the team all year, and Chris is an important member of the team," Sixers president Billy King said. "(Coach Maurice Cheeks) has been making decisions each game that he and the staff feel will give us the best opportunity to succeed, and I support him in the decision-making process."

Shavlik Randolph made his second NBA start and first this season in Webber's place Saturday, scoring eight points in 19 minutes.


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The skinny: The 76ers, expected to land solidly in the lottery, surprised most by starting 3-0, but they’ve lost five of six since then, including three of four on their West Coast swing that concluded Saturday night. Allen Iverson is averaging 28.7 points a game, and if he’s slowing down at 31 it’s hard to find any solid evidence. He’s not happy, though, that Chris Webber’s role has been minimized by Mo Cheeks. Webber, who didn’t play in Philly’s Saturday loss to the Clippers because of a sore back, didn’t play in the fourth quarter of the 76ers’ previous two games. Kyle Korver has never done much against the Pistons, but he’s Philly’s second-leading scorer this season (14.7) in his new role coming off the bench.

What to watch: The Pistons regained some of their swagger with back-to-back wins over Washington and Houston over the weekend, so everyone is curious to see if they can sustain their progress and translate it to the road. Flip Murray had something of a breakthrough game against Houston, making several key plays in Detroit’s critical 13-0 fourth-quarter spurt that essentially won the game. Now the guy they want to see make a move is Carlos Delfino. No worries with Antonio McDyess. He’s yet to hit his stride, but everybody is confident that it’s just a matter of time with him.

Now the guy they want to see make a move is Carlos Delfino.

Who wrote that and is it sly or optimistic?

Who wrote that and is it sly or optimistic?

:langlois:

We just caught another break, in addition to possibly no Webber, there will also be no AI tonight.

http://www.tsn.ca/nba/news_story/?ID=185319&hubname=nba


Iverson to miss Tuesday's game

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) - Philadelphia 76ers superstar Allen Iverson will miss Tuesday night's game against the Detroit Pistons after undergoing oral surgery to remove an abscessed wisdom tooth.

The team did not disclose Iverson's status for Wednesday's game at Milwaukee.

Iverson has led the 76ers (4-5) in scoring in eight of their nine games. The dynamic guard is third in the league in scoring at 28.7 points per game.


edit- thanks for the single star thread ranking whomever you are

I'm surprised AI doesn't just jam a wad of bondo in his gum, get novocaine'd up, and play through it. Who'd play in his place? Willie Homeboy Green?

Hell, if we don't win this game, we're just totally fucked.

ummm dalembert's forehead is monstrous. my goodness i never noticed.

Sheed's on fiya!!

21 pts 10 reb, 5 min to go in the 4th

i really like Sheed hitting the boards this season. we definitely need his rebounding. great defensive effort tonight, but of course, the Sixers were without AI and CWebb.

regardless, a win's a win..............that's our new objective, right? :flip:

weird.....FlipM empties the bench for the last minute, w/ the Pistons up 10.

everyone but Chauncey. why keep him in?

so, have we given up the "let's develop the bench" mantra? or is it now "let's develop a 30 yrs old+ bench?"

a quick glance at the numbers and it looks like every starter is averaging more minutes per game this season, than last (except Sheed who's averaging 30 seconds less). um....yay?

One of the best games that I've seen Sheed play in a long time.

Must be playing at home in Philly.

One of the best games that I've seen Sheed play in a long time.

Must be playing at home in Philly.
Sheed's putting up great numbers this season. nearly 10 boards and 2 blocks a game. AND he's shooting two less 3PTers a game, while shooting a better 3PT percentage. he's also shooting his best FG% since his Portland days. i've been talking about how great Sheed has been all season. call me a homer, but this is the Sheed that can win us a championship, IMO.

:mccosky:


Rip ouchy

Pretty solid win for the Pistons Tuesday. I mean, yes, it was pretty much gift-wrapped with Iverson and Webber being out, but we have all seen the Pistons look these gifthorses in the mouth before, right? I like what I have seen lately, especially how comfortable the Pistons are getting against smaller lineups. They run this high-low thing with Tay on the block and Sheed out high, then both Chauncey and Rip spotted up -- and when the Pistons move the ball and make the extra pass, it's been real tough to stop. Flip Saunders is also doing a masterful job of switching up defenses at the right times. Against Houston, he threw four different defensive looks at the Rockets and baffled them. I would have to look at the film to know exactly how many different looks they used Tuesday, but I am guess it was four again. Very crafty.

The only worry to come out of this was Rip. He banged knees with Shavlik Randolph in the second quarter and was hobbling around pretty good. We will check him out Wednesday. It was a nasty contusion, but my guess he will try to play against the Hawks. (Although if it were me, I wouldn't want to try and guard Joe Johnson on one good leg. Shoot, you wouldn't want me trying to guard him with two good legs.)

The other thing that was odd about the game Tuesday. Six three-seconds calls. Joe Forte was calling them like he was getting a commission on them. You can go a month without seeing a single three-seconds call. We saw six in one game. Unbelievable.

We definately should have won this game. But it aint our fault CWebb and AI have ouchies.

I was in and out but it seemed like Flip didn't have his greatest game. I do remember him making one shot.

You can't go a month without a 3 second call. I'd say you get one AT LEAST every other game.

Six is a lot, but Philly is full of young fools.

You can't go a month without a 3 second call. I'd say you get one AT LEAST every other game.
yea i dont know where he gets his numbers. even off the top of his head shouldnt be that bad a source.