Dwight Howard’s stomach virus holds him out against new Pistons rotation
Essentials
Teams: Detroit Pistons vs. Orlando Magic
Date: Dec. 3, 2010
Time: 7 p.m.
Television: Fox Sports Detroit
Records
Pistons: 6-13
Magic: 14-4
Probable starters
Pistons:
Magic:
- Jameer Nelson
- Vince Carter
- Quentin Richardson
- Rashard Lewis
- Marcin Gortat
Las Vegas projection
Spread: Pistons +4.5
Over/under: 185
Score: Magic win, 97-88
Three things to watch
1. A new rotation
Keith Langlois of Pistons.com:
Pistons starting lineup WILL NOT change for tonight, Kuester says, but rotation will. Shorter? No. Combinations will change, he said.
The starters will be the same. The same number of guys will play.
But some of the backups might be different. Or everyone might be played in different combinations. Or…
This is too broad, and there’s really no point of speculating. We’ll just have to see what happens.
2. Marcin Gortat
Dwight Howard will miss tonight’s game with a stomach virus, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. The illness will also keep Mickael Pietrus out, and Jameer Nelson and J.J. Redick are questionable.
On the bright side, that should increase the Pistons’ chances of winning.
On the downside, defending Dwight Howard was the a bright spot in the Pistons’ loss to the Magic on Tuesday. Detroit won’t get the chance to repeat that tonight.
I’d say the bright side outweighs the downside.
3. Point-guard duties
Expanding from the end of their loss to the Knicks, the Pistons gave Tayshaun Prince the responsibility of initiating the offense once the Pistons got into the halfcourt against the Magic on Tuesday.
Detroit went away from that strategy against the Heat on Wednesday. Tonight, we’ll get a better idea what the Pistons want to do.
Pregame Reading
- Wins produced makes Ben Wallace and Tracy McGrady the Pistons’ best two players, but everything else is ugly, according to Ben Gulker of Pistons by the Numbers.
- Jonas Jerebko said he’s progressing well, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
- Steve Kays points out some key Pistons numbers at DetroitBasketball.net.
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Dec 3, 2010 • 8:57 pm
by Laser
is anyone really that concerned with wins and losses right now? a win against the magic means nothing tonight. it’s just so foreign to me to think win = good and loss = bad. does a playoff berth (which is still somehow entirely possible) and swift first-round exit actually accomplish a damn thing? it’s a testament to how bad the east is and nothing more. says nothing about the team at all. i understand why the organization is shooting for it, since it makes them feel better about themselves and adds playoff revenue, but what on earth would a fan want to see that for?? the joy of watching four more games this season? 82 is too many to watch.