Pistons vs. Clippers, 3.20.2009

Matchup: Detroit Pistons (33-34) vs. Los Angeles Clippers (17-51)
Spread: Pistons -8
My Pick: Pistons by 7

Three Reasons the Pistons Will Win:

1. The Clippers. They stink, they put forth as little effort as they can get away with, and their coach has lost the team.
2. Tayshaun Prince. After being hounded by Ron Artest, Prince should have a field day against notoriously poor defender Al Thornton. Prince should feel like he's playing against JV players the day after facing a school's varsity team.
3. The Role Players. Will Bynum, Arron Afflalo and Kwame Brown have all played the best basketball of the season lately. As the Pistons continue to deal with injuries, those three should get plenty of opportunities.

Three Reasons the Pistons Will Lose:

1. The Grizzlies. If the Pistons can lose home games to the Grizzlies and the Knicks, anything is possible.
2. Health Swap. The last time these two teams met, the Clippers were missing half of their rotation. Tonight, it is the Pistons who will be undermanned.
3. Eric Gordon. The rookie has only improved since dropping 31 on the Pistons in January.

Update:
Final Score: Detroit 108, Los Angeles 90
Notes:

• The Pistons were without four of their top-five scorers and still beat a healthy Clipper squad by 18.
• Antonio McDyess continues to put up Dwight Howard-esque stat lines. He kept the Pistons in the game during the first half.
• Will Bynum, Tayshaun Prince, and Walter Herrmann all had great games. Much of Tayshaun’s success resulted from Mike Dunleavy’s odd decision to let Baron Davis defend Prince for a large portion of the second half.
• Eric Gordon and Zach Randolph both have tons of talent. The difference is Gordon has the basketball IQ to match his athletics gifts. The former Hoosier scored 22 points on only nine shots.
• The Pistons continue to avoid turnovers and grab tons of offensive rebounds.
• The Clippers should be embarrassed about the lack of defense they played in the second half.