Stones Head to Texas
San Antonio, TX – Because they haven’t been to the NBA finals since 2005 when they lost to the San Antonio Spurs, the Detroit Pistons have made some big changes. They don’t seem to be working.
While the core of the Pistons appears troubled, the Spurs only recently got theirs intact going into the teams’ matchup on Tuesday in San Antonio.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made Spurs -4 point spread favorites (NBA Odds) for today’s game, the over/under has been set at 185 (View Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 66% of bets for this game have been placed on Pistons +4 (View NBA Bet Percentages).
Since the Spurs beat them to win the 2004-05 championship, the Pistons have switched coaches twice, let Ben Wallace go and last month, traded Chauncey Billups to Denver to get Allen Iverson.
Detroit (10-6) has only managed to split its 12 games since Iverson joined the team, and he caused a distraction by skipping Thanksgiving practice. That incident prompted coach Michael Curry, in his first season replacing the fired Flip Saunders, to keep Iverson out of the starting lineup for the next game and the star guard was fined.
Now Iverson may be unhappy with his playing time, and he might not be the only Detroit player feeling that way.
Iverson has averaged less than 31 minutes and 13.4 points over the last five games. Those numbers are more than 10 minutes and 14 points below his career averages.
"I’m sitting more right now than I ever have in my career, and my rhythm isn’t there," said Iverson, shooting 33.9 percent from the field in his last five games. "I’m missing shots that I normally knock down 110 percent of the time, and that’s all on me."
Tayshaun Prince, meanwhile, was benched for the fourth quarter and played less than 23 minutes Sunday in a 96-85 home loss to Portland. The Pistons were outscored by 23 points when he was on the floor.
"He just wasn’t playing well," Curry said of Prince, who had played at least 30 minutes in every other game.
Prince was not happy to hear about Curry’s comment, according to what he told the team’s official Web site.
"I thought I was playing pretty good, if you ask me," said Prince, who was held to 10 points for the second straight game.
"I don’t know what’s going on. Hopefully, (coaches) could have said something after the game and let us know what was going on. They didn’t do it, so I don’t know."
While Prince has been one of the mainstays who’s helped Detroit reach six straight Eastern Conference finals, the key figures who led the Spurs to three NBA championships during that same span hadn’t all played together this season until last week.
Though Tim Duncan has been healthy all season, Manu Ginobili had been out following offseason ankle surgery until returning last Monday and Tony Parker missed nine games with a sprained ankle before coming back Friday.
Ginobili and Parker may need to step it up offensively because Duncan has been a bit off, averaging 15.5 points and 9.7 rebounds in the last six games while shooting 42.5 percent from the field.
He shot 1-for-9 in the first quarter Saturday as the Spurs fell behind by 13, and finished 6-for-18 in a 103-84 road loss to a Houston team playing without Tracy McGrady.
"I played an awful game in the first half," Duncan said. "I couldn’t hit any of my shots."
Ginobili is averaging 13.0 points but has played less than 22 minutes in each of his four games. Parker had 15 points and seven assists in each of his two games since returning.
Saturday’s loss ended the Spurs’ four-game winning streak and marked the first time in 12 games they have given up 100 points. Detroit is 9-0 when scoring at least 100.
The Pistons have won four of six meetings with the Spurs, including both last season, since the teams met in the finals.
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Posted: 12/2/08 12:16PM ET