There are two kinds of painful, one is when you lose a game that maybe you should have in the closing minutes.  The other, is the kind we witnessed last night at the Palace against the Heat.  Our once solid Pistons had to leave the the big guns in the game in a blowout so they wouldn’t break the record for the least amount of points put up by this historic franchise.

UGH…

Photo/Getty Images

Do you realize that Dwayne Wade played only in the first and third quarter for a total of 24 minutes and that the Heat were without their second leading scorer Michael Beasley.

How do you get outboarded 25-52?

They get Ben Gordon back, that doesn’t help.

Why so listless?

And trust me I’m not the only one who has noticed that Tayshaun Price looks like he doesn’t even want to be there.

We can dissect it all we want, but the truth is they’re clearly not the team we hope they would be at the start of the season.   And this has absolutely nothing to do with injuries.  I miss that scrappy team that tried to do whatever they could to win when their starters were sidelined.

Do I want the Rookies to get more time?  I sure do, at least they actually seem like they care.

Thoughts…

The 15-29 Pistons will host the 23-22 Miami Heat at the Palace tonight.

“Micheal Beasley will be a game-time decision Friday after he hyperextended his right knee in the first quarter of a 111-103 loss at Toronto on Wednesday.

This is the first of three meetings between these teams this season. Wade, averaging 31.5 points on 57.5 percent shooting in his last four contests, had 39 in the teams’ last matchup at The Palace of Auburn Hills last season, helping the Heat snap a six-game road losing streak in the series.” Via NBA.com

The Scouting Report via Pistons.com

Injury Report:
Ben Gordon is a game time decision and still no word on the progress of Will Bynum. Gordon may not play, but he will be at Meijer to sign an autograph or two on Saturday.

Tip is at 8:00 pm EST and will be televised on Fox Sports Detroit. For the radio broadcast tune in to WWJ 950 AM or follow the action over at NBA.com.

I will have some special guests with me at the game. Keep an eye out for some game time tweeting, as well as some HD  Flip Video later.

NEED4SHEED GAME CHAT

Thanks to Need4Sheed reader Jay for the Video.

Due to time restrictions, I am unable to post a full recap of the game so I would like to hear your thoughts in the comments.  One word from me, impressed.

Two little tidbits from the game that you may not have heard on the broadcast.

• A put Chucky chant started in the late fourth quarter
• And when Jonas Jerebko and Jamaal Magloire got into their little scrum…the crowd started chanting DEEEEETROIT BASKETBALLLL.  See, we always keep that “Bad Boys” mentality.

FYI to Austin Daye Fans

“Pistons rookie Austin Daye will be at Meijer in Allen Park (3536 Fairlane Blvd.) on Tues., Oct. 6, from 4:30-6:00 p.m., along with the Pistons Hoop Truck, where you can get a voucher for a free ticket to an upcoming preseason game at The Palace.” Via Pistons.com

Your thoughts in the comments.

The Pistons are in Miami to play their last game of the regular season against the 42-39 Heat. With Detroit locked in the 8th playoff spot there isn’t much worth playing for other than to save the starters legs for the Cavaliers. Michael Curry plans on siting Rasheed Wallace, Richard Hamilton and Antonio McDyess. Tayshaun will start (because of his consecutive game streak), but he’s doubtful to play more than a handful of minutes.

With this game meaning nothing standing wise, it does mean that Pistons fans will get to see more of the youngsters in tonight’s game. As for the Pistons youth, it seems as though they are taking some heat from local Pistons beat writers Chris McCosky and A. Sherrod Blakely.

Chris McCosky:

“In a season full of disappointment, you probably have to rank the growth stagnation of Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson fairly high on the list.

Johnson was given the starting power-forward role coming out of camp and he couldn’t handle it. Maxiell was a main cog in the rotation last season under Flip Saunders, but has been yo-yoed in and out of Curry’s rotation this year.

The point is, the expectations on Maxiell and Johnson — in their fourth seasons — were just as high as those on Thomas and Noah. Detroit was counting on both to play key roles to lessen the reliance on the aging Antonio McDyess and Rasheed Wallace.

And they didn’t get it done.

Maxiell has played 1,374 minutes, about 400 less than last year, averaging 5.7 points (down from 7.9) and 4.10 rebounds (down from 5.2).

He still struggles on the defensive boards and seems to have been in and out of Curry’s doghouse all season.

Johnson has played a career-high 889 minutes, averaging 3.5 points and 3.8 rebounds — almost exactly his career numbers.

He went from starting to the last man off the bench, other than rookie Walter Sharpe. Not exactly what president Joe Dumars envisioned when he gave him an $11 million extension two years ago.”

A. Sherrod Blakely:

“It’s difficult for players to put into words how a team that has been so dominant in the East for years could become a team that squeaks into the playoffs.

Chalking it up to the changes this season is only part of the problem.

The bigger issue has to do with talent.

All those years of finishing near the top of the Eastern Conference also meant being near the bottom of the NBA draft.

Youngsters such as Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell and Rodney Stuckey are all better players than they were on draft night. But they would have to be much better much faster to keep Detroit as a perennial title contender.

That hasn’t happened.

Because of that, the Pistons are where they are — a playoff team, barely.”

Not fun to hear when your Pistons team is heading into the most uncertain playoff situation they have been in for years.

Tip off is at 8:00 PM and will be locally broadcast on FSN Detroit. If you can’t catch the game on TV, you can listen to the game over on 1130 AM WDFN or follow through your computer at NBA.com.

And if you are still up for commenting on Detroit’s first round playoff matchup with the Cavs to give a little of your wisdom, the more the merrier.

I would go as far as calling this one of the best games I have seen the Pistons play all year. Had it all: scoring, defense, drama, last second heroics…

Too bad that we lost, but as long as the effort is there everything is alright. We’ll get them next time. We could have pulled this one out if it wasn’t for one or two bad bounces in the Heat’s direction and a few bad calls. Don’t get upset about the referees here, everybody knows that superstars get all the whistles their way, just live with the effort.

Photo/Getty Images

• Burned!
• I’m the 1st guy to tell you that Dwyane Wade doesn’t belong into the MVP debate, because his team isn’t good enough, but after today…well, it is hard to deny that this guy is special. Not like all-star special, nope, more like Hall of Fame, ‘one-of-the-best-scorers-to-ever-lace-’em-up‘-special. You got to give respect where respect is due. 39 points, 6 assists and 4 blocks. Total game-changer. He single-handedly won this game on both ends of the floor.
• Lady Luck shined at the Heat today. They were lucky more times than not in the final minute of the game. Jermaine O’Neal’s jumper with 1 second left on the shot clock, Jermaine’s follow-up that pretty much was offensive goaltending not being called, the way Haslem got the elbow jumper, the bad bounce the ball took off O’Neal’s hands after the in-bounds pass and the way it ended up in Haslem’s hands for the final shot …man…them not being lucky on one of those possessions would have been a W for us.
• Everybody has heard of Jamario Moon by now (or seen him on YouTube), but I didn’t know he could shoot threes like that. 3/5 and one bigger than the other. Sick!

 Photo/Getty Images

• In your face!
• We won, sorry, Maxiell and Dyess won the rebound war for us 36-29. Dyess grabbed a game-high 12 boards while Maxiell just crashed the offensive board -- 6 out of his 7 rebounds kept possession alive for us. One rebound by Jason was unreal -- the way he extended his arm to get it reminded me of the famous Dwight Howard alley-oop…
• Rodney Stuckey showed the world that he is ready to take over. What a game by Stuck! He wasn’t the best #3 on the court tonight, but he held his own against a top 3 active player. 24 points -- doing it all! Driving to the rim, hitting jump-shots -- if only the whistles weren’t going the wrong way…

 Photo/Getty Images

• Michael Curry put Walter Herrmann into the game with a few seconds left to stretch the floor for a Stuckey drive to get the lead back. Well, Stuckey drove and chose to pass it out to Herrmann who had an opportunity like this already twice this season and couldn’t take advantage of it…til today! Walter hit a big corner three to give us the lead! The crowd absolutely loved it.
• Miami got their 1st lead in the 4th quarter. We let them hang around for too long and they burned us in the end. Too bad…

• Kwame Brown - I can’t praise him enough. Maybe he is finally blossoming?  He played good against Yao, even better against the Clippers a few days later and now he delivered the goods against the Heat. A tied game-high +10 plus/minus and a few awesome moves in the post that totally surprised Jermaine O’Neal. Way to go, Kwame! Photo/Getty Images

• One call away…
• I got used to superstars getting the calls when the game is close (even tho I don’t like it, but it is what it is), but why not be consistent on both ends of the floor at least? If Stuckey would have done that to Wade -- Wade would be shooting free throws. No doubt about it.
• You be the judge….out of bounds that’s for sure.

Detroit will likely have Rodney Stuckey back, but Rip, Sheed and AI still have not solid date of return. Rip and Rasheed are expected back within a week, but there is no timetable for the return of Allen Iverson , who has missed Detroit’s last 12 games with a sore back. Call me a skeptic, but I’m still doubtful of his return to the team at all.

The Heat are now just 1 1/2 games up on sixth-place Philadelphia and two games ahead of seventh place Detroit 34-34.

Tip off is at 1:00 PM and will be broadcast Nationally on ABC. If you can’t catch the broadcast, listen locally on WDFN 1130 AM or trough your computer at NBA.com

Leave your thoughts in the comments and feel free to be as descriptive as can be while I’m on the disabled list, your comments will help keep me in the loop.

Key Points:

• Should we look past the Teal Era and dub this the Black and Blue Era?
• The Pistons’ seven game skid is their longest losing streak since 2002-03.
• If this quote by Allen Iverson doesn’t speak for a ton of what Pistons fans have been complaining about all season I don’t know what does. “We don’t have any consistency of how we are going to play night in and night out. We play different ways. We have to find an identity for ourselves on how we are going to play every night and stick to it. We have to live and die with it.” It’s actually quite funny to hear Iverson complain about playing defense when, well he’s know not to play any.  “We can’t stop nobody,” he accurately pointed out. “The way we played, we would have to shoot 60 percent to have a chance to win a basketball game. Everybody looks at our offense, but I thought we scored enough to win. We can’t get stops consistently and we can’t get stops when we need them. It seemed like they scored every time down the court.” Via NBA.com
• At least they scored 42 paint points….right?
• It ultimately was a cold third quarter in which Detroit was outscored 17-28 that did them in.
• This is not your Detroit Pistons team.
• You could see the frustration on the players’ faces throughout the game.

Photo/Getty Images

• Allen Iverson led Detroit with 22 points on 8-for-18 shooting with 2 steals, a rebound and 2 assists. Can’t forget the pretty layup that was the play of the game.
• You know Rodney Stuckey is struggling when Kwame Brown has 2 more assists than he does. Stuckey had 8 points, 0 assists, 0 rebounds, and 2 turnovers. Is it a wall or is it the system?
• Antonio McDyess once again played his heart out for a team that truly looks like it has given up. Dyess kept Detroit in the ballgame putting up 17 on 8-for-10 shooting.
• The Pistons shot 12% from downtown.
• Missing in action….Rasheed Wallace. Can’t win when Sheed puts up 6 points and 6 boards. Detroit needs him to dominate when they struggle.
• Rip wasn’t around either, just 9 points on 4-11 shooting.
• Tayshaun Prince came close to a triple – double with 18 points, 9 boards and 8 assists. Is Tay doing Rodney’s job better than he is?

Photo/Getty Images

• Keep Curry, put Iverson in check?
• A Walter sighting, whom Curry vows to utilize.  Kwame Brown saw some action too.
• FSN Highlights by Quarter.
• Outrebounded by 10.
• Raise your hand if you wanted to see Detroit at least try to play zone when they were in trouble. I guess he will try anything because I can remember not so long ago that he didn’t want to play zone D at ALL.
• To make things worse, how obnoxious is Wade’s band-aid which reads FLASH with a lightning bolt on it?  I don’t care who you are, a display like that is ridiculous.  Can you see Antonio with a face band-aid with dice on it?  Yes he’s a great player, but get over yourself.
• Matt Watson – The Pistons are Tumbling Into Oblivion.
• Think twice before you put all the blame on Allen Iverson.
• Tonight in NO will be tough.  A back to back on a seven game slide facing Chris Paul.

The Piston and their  six game losing streak are in Miami to take on the 29-26 Heat.  Of all the games on Pistons’ current road trip, this game against Miami may be the most winnable for a seriously slumping Detroit team.

Miami has currently lost seven of their last 11 games.  Dwyane Wade seems to be the only one putting up number for the Heat. He surpassed his career high by putting up 50 points against the Magic on Sunday.  Stop Wade and maybe Detroit can muster a win.

More from Rip

“There’s been a whole lot of changes this year,” Hamilton said. “We’ve been changing stuff all through the season.

“For one example we just put (Antonio) McDyess back in the starting lineup and things like that. There’s been a lot of different changes. Me coming off the bench, so … there’s something different.”

When asked to clarify his comments Monday, Hamilton said: “I didn’t agree with coming off the bench, but I did it to help the team and to win games. But we haven’t won games with me doing that.” Via The Detroit Free Press

The Good/Bad and More:

• The Pistons have lost 15 of 20 since Jan. 10, including six straight for the first time since Feb. 3-17, 2004. The Pistons haven’t had a longer skid since they dropped seven in a row from Feb. 21-March 2, 2003.
• I know we talk about Curry a lot around here lately but did you know his suits are known to cause seizures? (from Need4Sheed reader Bill Pooch)
• Drew Sharp: Everyone is culpable. (thanks to Max for making sure I didn’t miss it)
• Chris McCosky blames Iverson.
• A. Sherrod Blakely – Curry is Dumars’ Guy.
• A surprising Fall from grace.
• Can’t say this in a nice way, the Pistons are screwed.

Tip off is at 7:30 and locally broadcast on FSN.  If you can’t catch the game on TV, or are gearing up for the Oscars, you can listen locally at WDFN 1130 AM or follow/listen to the game at NBA.com.

Leave them in the Comments.

And make sure you read Vladan and Martin’s daily journals of their trip over at Dunk on U.

Thanks again to David Wieme and The Detroit Pistons for making such special trip turn out magical. And from Vladan and Martin themselves, here is part of an email I received this morning.

Natalie,

If you see David, George or Greg Kelser, please tell them how much we appreciate everything they have done for us and that we will always remember this day for the rest of our lives.

We can’t even describe how much everything you have done for us means to us.

Forget the longest home losing streak since Detroit was wearing Teal horses. The Pistons need to a win tonight against the Miami Heat not only for the morale of the players and fans, but for the simple fact that the Pistons at 25-21 are a half-game behind the Heat, in the No. 6 playoff spot. Yes the Pistons are #6 in the standings.

Not only will Rodney Stuckey get a chance to play against his favorite player for the first time in his career, he’s going to have the defend him too.

“It’s another game,” Stuckey said Tuesday after practice. “Like I said, Dwyane Wade is one of the best players in the league. It’s going to be a tough night for all of us trying to defend him.”

“I just watched him play throughout his college career and then obviously when he came to the NBA,” Stuckey said. “He’s always been one of my favorite players to watch.” Via The Detroit Free Press

Good News/Bad News

• Miami has lost five straight against the Pistons and 16 of the last 19.
• The Heat have dropped five in a row in Detroit and are 1-10 in its last 11 at The Palace.
• Rodney Stuckey may be bothered by the bruised thigh that he received during Sunday’s game with Cleveland.

Tip off is at 7:30 P.M. and will be locally televised on FSN. If you can’t watch the broadcast, tune into 1130 AM WDFN The Fan.  Can’t do either? Follow the game on NBA.com.

I will be enjoying the game with the winners of The Need4Sheed Suite Night courtesy of The Detroit Pistons.

Comments and  Chat.