Game Tips Off at 7:30 P.M. EST.
TV: NBATV, FSD (unless you have Dish Network),
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Line: Heat -10.5
Oppo Research:
I've been scouring the internet for some information on the Heat, but it's tough to find anything. Of course, that's a joke (and not even funny. I'm sorry). As you know, the Heat have jumped into the overwhelming coverage arena with the likes of Brett Favre's indecisiveness & Tiger Woods' promiscuousness. We can blame LeBron James' "Decision" in July or we can blame the trio of perennial All-Stars (or both). Either way, the Heat are now the premiere team in the NBA (but don't tell that to the back-to-back champs) and we'll have to stomach through it all season a la Boston 2007-2008.
Beyond Miami's "Big Three," they have a little three of Mario Chalmers, Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller that's not really going to scare anybody, although Haslem and Miller combine to average 30 points per game against the Pistons in their career. The Heat also have the slap-happy Carlos Arroyo and Joel Anthony, who will be rounding out the starting-five tonight (ew). Do we really care beyond the "Big Three," though?
Keys for Detroit
Play the youngsters -- We know how good Ben Wallace, Rip, and Tay are. We don't need to see them play 20+ minutes in an exhibition game.
Pick up the pace -- It's exhibition season, let's see if this team can play at a faster tempo.
Take out the Big Three -- I don't mean hurt them... I mean, like, box 'em out and prevent them from scoring 120 points.
Potential Drama:
The last time they met, Juwan Howard (yes, he's on the Heat) and Charlie Villanueva scrapped. Clearly, this is the biggest drama of this preseason game.
Question(s) of the Game:
The biggest was answered already: Who will start?
The starting lineup is as follows:
Stuckey, Hamilton, Prince, Jerebko and Wallace. Expect them to play much of first and third qtrs.
No. 2 question: Will the NBATV announcers talk about the Pistons at all?
Valuable Links:
The Peninsula is Mightier... or PLUMS.