"With an alley-oop from Will Bynum at Tuesday's practice, Pistons swingman Corey Maggette effectively cleared the final hurdle in his calf injury. "It's better," he said." His explosiveness was there, he said, and he's optimistic he'll make his debut tonight against the 76ers. "I think so," he said. "I think the biggest thing is just conditioning. It's going to take awhile just getting back into game condition, but at the end of the day, it's up to Arnie (Kander)." Coach Lawrence Frank also was encouraged by Maggette's first contact practice but stopped short of committing to his return tonight, reserving judgment until talking to Kander, the team's strength and conditioning coach. "He looked good," Frank said. "We'll kind of evaluate it after practice, and we'll just figure it out as we move forward when we're going to activate him." The 13-year NBA veteran averaged 15 points and 3.9 rebounds in 32 games with Charlotte last season and played in three exhibition games this season before being sidelined with a strained left calf Oct. 18 vs. Miami. "It was pretty good," he said of Tuesday's practice, his first without restrictions since the injury. "I'm very tired, but it was just good to move around and be more interactive with the guys."" Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/201211...6ers?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Detroit Pistons
