San Antonio probable starters:

Spread: Detroit -1

Outlook: How in the world are the Pistons favored in this game?

Losers of four straight, Detroit seems on the verge of imploding. And the next seven games certainly don’t help (NBA rank for winning percentage in parenthesis).

vs. San Antonio (6)

at Cleveland (3)

at Miami (14)

at New Orleans (8)

at Orlando (4)

at Boston (2)

vs. Denver (5)

Even with Manu Ginobili out with sore right ankle, this stretch could be a season killer.

It’s far more likely the Pistons go winless than win three games in the stretch. Here’s what Allen Iverson told the Detroit News:

“That’s what we need,” Allen Iverson said. “We don’t need some (mediocre) team to come in here and then beat them and start feeling like we did something. We need to beat quality teams. We need that challenge. We need somebody that’s going to come in here and want to kick our butts all over the basketball court, just to see how we respond.”

I like the optimism, but show you can beat a mediocre team first. They want to kick your butts all over the basketball court, too. I just don’t see this ending well.