The Detroit Pistons face the Orlando Magic tonight. Normally, I would give little chance to the Pistons when facing any 30+ win team. But Detroit always seems to play the Magic close. We'll see what happens tonight. Ben Gordon is returning to the lineup but Rodney Stuckey will miss tonight's game. UPDATE: The Magic are obviously not interested in helping the Pistons' lottery odds: the Magic will be without starters Dwight Howard, Ryan Anderson and Jameer Nelson, according to reports.
Game Tips Off at 7:30 P.M. EST
Orlando Magic: 32 - 21 (14 - 11 road)
Detroit Pistons: 19 - 33 (13 - 12 home)
The Situation:
The situation is: dinner will be ready in five minutes. I'll expand on this later.
Keys to the Game:
Feed the Moose -- We know this. We want Greg Monroe to dominate every game. However, that is easier said than done when Dwight Howard is patrolling the paint. But the Pistons need to get it down low into Monroe and force the issue against Howard, who has proved that if you get him frustrated on defense you make him frustrated and tentative on offense. I
Feed the Gordon -- But only if his shots are going in early. In the previous game between these two teams Gordon scored 26 points and had 6 assists. Of course, that was so early in the season that Gordon and Jonas Jerebko were still in the starting lineup. Still, with Monroe having his hands full the Pistons need someone in the backcourt to step up.
Hack a Howard -- Make Howard earn his points. When the Pistons get blown out it usually means defensive breakdowns and easy points in the paint for the opponent. Let's make them earn it at the stripe, especially Howard. Superman is shooting a career-low 48 percent from the free-throw line.
Don't lose to the Magic JV team -- Seriously, if the Pistons can't pull it out against half a team I'll gladly take the lottery balls but yeesh. Pretty embarrassing.
Question of the Game:
Is turkey bratwurst nearly as good as regular old delicious bratwurst? I'm going to find out. More later. UPDATE: It was actually turkey kielbasa and not bratwurst. And the verdict is: Definite step up from a hot dog and a definite step down from a traditional bratwurst or kielbasa.