Pistons at Nets, 4.01.09

Matchup: Detroit Pistons (36-38) at New Jersey Nets (30-44)
Spread: PK
My Pick: Pistons by 8

Three reasons the Pistons will win:

1. Free Amir. With Rasheed Wallace out, Amir should get a chance to contribute against New Jersey. New Jersey lacks a power forward who can make Amir pay for any mistakes, so Johnson should see heavy minutes tonight.
2. Tayshaun Prince. With Richard Jefferson gone, New Jersey’s small forward situation has been a disaster. Prince has averaged 17.5 points and 9 rebounds per game in the first two meetings of the season between these teams.
3. Kwame Brown. The Nets only have three players who score. Kwame should be able to take Brook Lopez out of the picture. If Tayshaun can do the same to Vince Carter, the Nets entire offense will have to revolve around Devin Harris.

Three reasons the Pistons will lose:

1. Could Curry Cave? When RIP Hamilton complained about a bench role earlier this year, Curry made him a starter (and rightfully so). Now that Iverson has complained about his role, there is a possibility Curry will again succumb to his stars. If Iverson’s role increases, the Pistons’ chance at a victory will take a major hit.
2. Sheed’s Out. Rasheed is suspended for tonight’s game because he picked up his 16th technical foul last night. While Amir Johnson should pick some of the slack, he cannot abuse Ryan Anderson and Yi Jianlian on the block the way Sheed could have.
3. Devin Harris. Harris dropped 38 points on Detroit earlier this season. The Pistons need to prevent that from happening tonight.

Update:
Final Score: Detroit 98, New Jersey 111
Notes:

• The Piston defense was pathetic. The Nets have some nice pieces – three to be exact – but they have no business scoring 111 points in a slow game. Keyon Dooling and Brook Lopez, among others, torched the Pistons.
• Allen Iverson was unspeakably awful. He then had the audacity to complain about his role after the game.
• The heavy minutes Antonio McDyess has been playing have finally caught up to him. He is averaging 5.3 points and 7.7 rebounds over his last three games. With all of the talk about benching Rasheed, maybe it is Dice who is better-suited for a bench role that could limit his minutes.
• At the risk of beating the metaphorical dead horse, I’ll point out that Amir Johnson watched several potential offensive rebounds bounce off of his fingertips, was a non-factor offensively, and nevertheless, Detroit outscored New Jersey by 6 the 25 minutes Johnson was on the court, but was outscored by 17 the other 23 minutes. He makes good things happen when he is on the floor, even if they sometimes aren’t obvious and don’t show up in the box score.