The Pistons’ tour of Lopez brothers continues tonight vs. Phoenix
Essentials
Teams: Detroit Pistons vs. Phoenix Suns
Date: Jan. 22, 2011
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Television: Fox Sports Detroit
Records
Pistons: 15-28
Suns: 20-21
Probable starters
Pistons:
Suns:
- Steve Nash
- Vince Carter
- Grant Hill
- Channing Frye
- Robin Lopez
Las Vegas projection
Spread: Pistons -1.5
Over/under: 206.5
Score: Pistons win, 104-102.5
Three things to watch
1. To scrap or not to scrap?
A distinct pattern this season for the Pistons has been the constant changing of the lineup and rotation. After McGrady was inserted as the starting point guard and Stuckey moved to shooting guard, the Pistons put together their first stretch of cohesive play of the season. Until last night. The Pistons played arguably their worst game of the season against a very poor Nets team. Although predicting John Kuester‘s moves is no easy task, he’s pretty reliably changed things for the sake of change this season, so if the Pistons perform poorly against Phoenix, it wouldn’t be a shock to see yet another lineup shakeup.
2. Monroe vs. a soft Phoenix frontline
Monroe has played several really nice games for the Pistons lately, but he’s yet to have a breakout moment where he completely takes over a game and is dominant. Phoenix would be a good opportunity for that to happen, considering the Suns don’t have that imposing of a frontline with Lopez, Frye, Hakim Warrick and Marcin Gortat as their rotation bigs. Monroe is sure to find himself with some matchup advantages, and it would be nice to see the Pistons go to him a lot early.
3. It’s Mentoring Night
Tonight is mentoring night at the Palace. Here’s friend of this (and every other Pistons blog) Ben Gulker to sum up what that means:
"Throughout the evening, mentoring will be featured at The Palace and (hopefully) during the game as well. In addition, the Pistons have made discounted tickets available via this link (and this link only!). Further, the Pistons will donate $5 to Mentor Michigan for each ticket that is sold through this promotion, 100% of which will be granted to local mentoring programs throughout the state. When purchasing tickets, please use the keyword “mentor“.It goes without saying that this is an incredible opportunity for youth mentoring. All of us involved are incredibly grateful that the Pistons have partnered with us to raise awareness about the importance of mentoring for Michigan’s youth, and we’re confident it will be a very special evening for all who attend.Shameless Request: If you (or others you know!) are planning on attending another Pistons game this year, please take a moment to consider if you could make it this one."
So there you have it. If you’re around the Auburn Hills area and have nothing to do, why not take in a Pistons game and support a good cause?
Pregame Reading
- Maybe the Pistons will follow the Cavs’ lead and lower ticket prices?
- Alphonso Ribeiro broke out the Carlton dance at a NBA game
- Mikhail Prokhorov’s probably fake Twitter page is pretty entertaining