:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/24443887/20131119_kkt_su8_427.0.jpg)
The Miami Heat are heavy favorites tonight against the Detroit Pistons, but the Heat will be without Dwyane Wade tonight, according to the team's official Twitter account.
Dwyane Wade (soreness) will not play in tonight's #HEATgame.
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 3, 2013
My guess is that this move is purely precautionary and if this game were important, or, you know, against a better team, Wade would give things a go. This is just speculation, but perhaps the Heat brass decided that the team would probably not be able to go small often against the Pistons' big lineup and figured it would be a good opportunity to rest their star guard's balky knees.
Does this make the Pistons more likely to win? I suppose slightly, but I wouldn't necessarily say that the move puts the game in Detroit's favor. Now, if LeBron James were to come down with a case of food poisoning, maybe I would reconsider.