<u>Detroit Pistons (37-24) @ Utah Jazz (30-30)</u> When: Monday 1st March, 9:00 PM (ET) Where: Delta Center TV: Fox Sports Detroit, KJZZ (local), NBALP (National) <u>Standings</u> Jazz: 9th Western Conference (.500) Pistons: 3rd Eastern Conference (.607) Jazz home record: 20-10 Pistons road record: 16-14 <u>Probable Starting Lineups</u> Pistons / Jazz PG: Chauncey Billups / Carlos Arroyo SG: Richard Hamilton / Aleksandar Pavlovic SF: Tayshaun Prince / Andrei Kirilenko PF: Ben Wallace / Tom Guggliotta C: Rasheed Wallace / Jarron Collins Coach: Larry Brown / Jerry Sloan <u>Key Bench Players</u> Jazz: Greg Ostertag, Raul Lopez, Gordan Giricek Pistons: Chucky Atkins, Mike James, Corliss Williamson <u>Injuries</u> Pistons: Mehmet Okur (IL) Jazz: Curtis Borchardt (IL), Matt Harpring (Out) <u>Players to watch</u> Starters Jazz: Andrei Kirilenko - Can fill up a stat sheet as well as anyone in the NBA. Pistons: Ben Wallace - Back to back defensive player of the year. Bench Players Jazz: Mo Williams - Was on fire in the clutch against the Kings and outplayed Mike Bibby. Pistons: Darko Milicic - The second pick in the draft got minutes against Atlanta, and with Memo out could get more. <u>Keys to the game</u> Utah 1. Hit their 3's. With Ben Wallace patrolling the lane of defense, you've got problems if you intend to score in the post, where the Jazz score a lot. Utah should put up 3's and take Ben Wallace out of the game to an extent, but if they miss he'll get the rebound. 2. Andrei Kirilenko. Has the "weak point" in the Pistons starting lineup and must play well if Utah are to win. He needs to vary his shot selection, which he can, and shoot over Tayshaun Prince all night long. Detroit 1. Offense. The Pistons lineup have 3 guys that can go for 20 points on any night. Utah play good D, and their scorers have to score, otherwise they're going to struggle. 2. Rebounding. Utah seem to outrebound most of their opponents, but the Pistons have an awesome frontcourt. They should look to control the boards, and let Utah have no second chances. Key Matchup: SF: Andrei Kirilenko vs. Tayshaun Prince Prediction: This should be a close game, Utah have been playing good recently but are they good enough to overcome the Pistons? In my opinion right now they aren't. Pistons by 3.
