The Pistons third pre-season game tips at 6 PM at the Palace of Auburn Hills.  The 2 and 0 Pistons take on the 1-0 Atlanta Hawks.  No television broadcast, but you can listen to the broadcast on the radio at 97.1  The Ticket or trough your computer over at NBA.com.

The Piston we are all waiting to see (Charlie Villanueva) is expected to miss his third consecutive preseason game because of hamstring injury.

Things are looking up in Motown

“It’s a good time for us to make a run now,” Hamilton said. “We pretty much know we can’t get the one, two or three seed, we’re so far behind. But we can definitely shoot for the fourth.” Via NBA.com

Not so much in Hotlanta.

“Guys aren’t serious about what’s at hand,” said coach Mike Woodson, who saw his team’s lead over fifth-place Miami shrink to a half-game. “And what’s at hand is us winning this fourth spot and holding it down. So we’ve got to go home now and see what we’re made of.” Via NBA.com

We may not even see Josh Smith tonight after he had a heated incident with his coach on court.

Josh Smith didn’t play in the second half Friday after he got into a heated exchange with Woodson at halftime that could be heard in the hallway outside the locker room. Smith, who had 13 points in the first two quarters, spent the second half sitting in the middle of the bench with a towel draped over his back.

“I don’t want to talk about that right now,” Smith said when asked about the benching.

Woodson wouldn’t say whether the team’s third-leading scorer would play Saturday.

“We’ll determine that tomorrow,” he said. Via NBA.com

Sad really, as good as Smith is, I think his immaturity has plagued him his entire (though short) career.

Tip off is at 7:00 PM and will be locally broadcast on FSN PLUS. If you can’t catch the broadcast you can tune into 1130 AM WDFN. If you can’t do either, follow the game live or listen to the stream over at NBA.com.

Leave them in the Comments.

And remember Daddy Rich in your thoughts and prayers.

Key Points:

• When Flip Murray is the game maker and burns you over and over again is it time to give up?  Seriously, Flip Murry lit the Pistons up for 23 points on 10-18 shooting off the bench for the Hawks.  Still a little funny to me that Flip took more shots for the Hawks than Joe Johnson did. Johnson led the Hawks with 27 on 10-for-16 shooting.
• Has Sheed given up? I was at the game and I was bitching (to myself) that we were going small down the stretch, again, and wondering why Sheed wasn’t in the game. On the ride home I heard Curry explain that he said that when he asked to return to the game Rasheed said he wasn’t able.  An old injury re-aggravated or is there something we don’t know? Maybe he just wanted to rush home to catch the rest of the North Carolina – Duke game.
• Allen Iverson led all scorers with 28 points on 11-for-20 shooting. Great performance from AI who missed Tuesday’s game against the Bulls with Flu like symptoms. He added 3 steals and just one turnover, but the one he did give up was a critical possession late in the game that could have made a big difference in the outcome of the game.

Photo/Getty Images

• AI highlights complete with the diving assist to Rip.
• If the playoffs started Wednesday, the Pistons and Hawks would face each other. And Detroit would NOT have home court advantage.
• The Pistons actually won the war of the boards 40-35.
• They even had 45 points in the paint.
• They really have no defensive identity.  Oh how we miss the Wallace x2 days.
• Rodney Stuckey struggled a bit after suffering a slight ankle sprain in Tuesday’s game with the Bulls.  Rodney scored 12 on 5-for-11 shooting in 30 minutes on the floor.  A complaint by many Pistons fans is that our point guard doesn’t distribute the ball…and his one assist last night is a shining example.
• Feel bad…some Jason Maxiell Highlights will make you feel good. At least it did for me when I was putting the video together. Dunk you very much Jason for easing our misery just a little with your hustle and heart.

Video Courtesy of The NBA, The Detroit Pistons and FSN

• Jason finished with 6 points, 4 boards, 2 blocked shots and a steal in 17 minutes. You can ask yourself all you want why he didn’t get more time when he was a difference maker when he was on court and when Sheed couldn’t return.  Should Need4Sheed have a “mail bag” of questions for Michael Curry to answer?  I think we would keep him pretty busy.
• Tayshaun Prince 12 points on 4-10 shooting, with 8 assists, 5 boards, and a steal.  Thank goodness someone is racking up assists.
• 17 lead changes with the game tied 8 times.
• Double-double for Antonio McDyess with 10 points and 10 boards.
• FSN Highlights by the Quarter.
• Jason Maxiell likes to block shots, and we like to watch him do it.  Al Horford……..not so much.

Video Courtesy of The NBA, The Detroit Pistons and FSN

• “For some reason, when we come home, we have a lull,” Curry said. “When we’re on the road, we’re all together and you have to fight, that’s all you got. (At home) everyone is finding reasons why we’re losing.” Via The Detroit News. Dear Mr. Curry, just so you know, in case you haven’t paid attention, IT’S NOT JUST AT HOME!
• Richard Hamilton 14 points on 6-for-16 shooting with 5 assists, 4 boards and zero turnovers.
• It may be every bit of reality that the Pistons don’t even make the playoffs. There, I said it. Just look at the standings and see for yourself.  They have the same record as Miami and Philly and the only team below them in the hunt are The Bucks.
• Did you know that Antonio McDyess hit the Bulls Derrick Rose so hard that he was in tears?  I knew he was hurt when watcing the game but apparently the Bulls think action should be taken against Dyess.
• Anyone have the feeling Joe Dumars is just some kind of Evil Genius and something just might happen?  I am thinking if something does go down it will be after the All Star break.  For all we know a deal is already put in place, but the NBA wants All Star weekend to take precedence.  Just me thinking to help stop the madness in my head.  But I could be right.