Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace will miss Pistons game with ankle injury

Essentials

Teams: Detroit Pistons at Charlotte Bobcats

Date: Dec. 27, 2010

Time: 7 p.m.

Television: Fox Sports Detroit Plus

Records

Pistons: 10-20

Bobcats: 9-19

Probable starters

Pistons:

• Rodney Stuckey
• Ben Gordon
• Tayshaun Prince
• Charlie Villanueva
• Ben Wallace

Bobcats:

• D.J. Augustin
• Stephen Jackson
• Gerald Henderson
• Boris Diaw
• Nazr Mohammed

Las Vegas projection

Spread: Pistons +5.5

Over/under: 193.5

Score: Bobcats win, 99.5-94

Three things to watch

1. No Gerald Wallace

Gerald Henderson will start in place of Gerald Wallace, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. That’s obviously a pretty big break for the Pistons.

Henderson isn’t a great perimeter shooter, so I hope Tayshaun Prince shows the same dedication to help defense as he did against the Hornets last week.

2. Charlie Villanueva on the glass

Boris Diaw is one of the league’s poorer rebounding power forwards. If everything goes to plan, Charlie Villanueva should have his way with him on the boards. That would allow the Pistons to keep one of their best offensive weapons on the court.

If Villanueva isn’t getting the job done on the glass, I suspect Greg Monroe would dominate Diaw for rebounds. But Monroe’s offense game doesn’t threaten the Bobcats quite as much.

3. New Bobcats

Paul Silas will make his debut as the Bobcats’ head coach tonight. I don’t expect Charlotte to look much different, but keep an eye out for a few wrinkles. Hopefully, they confuse the Bobcats more than the Pistons.

Pregame Reading

• Sebastian Pruiti of NBAPlaybook.com breaks down the Pistons’ pick-and-roll struggles.
• Zach Lowe of The Point Forward calls The Palace court one of the league’s elite.

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