Pistons vs. Sixers

                                                                                         

Detroit -8 vs. Philadelphia

The Philadelphia 76ers organization simply must have the Detroit Pistons firmly residing in their head. The Pistons have been responsible for a handful of recent playoff exits for the Sixers, they stole their coach, Larry Brown, who promptly won an NBA championship in his first year in Detroit and now the Pistons have perhaps the most iconic Philadelphia basketball player in two decades on their roster.

Allen Iverson has played against Philadelphia while in Denver, but this game may be more meaningful now that he is a member of an Eastern Conference Rival. The 76ers drafted Iverson as the first pick in the 1996 draft and watched him grow into a bona-fide star. He took the sagging franchise back up to some of its former glory and won the Eastern Conference in the 2000-01 season. Philadelphia traded Iverson in 2006 as they fortunes began to once again sag.

There will be no better way for Philadelphia to start excising Detroit out of its mind than beating them on the road tonight when the teams meet up at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

The Pistons (11-6) have been a streaky team since acquiring Iverson on November 3. They lost their first two with Iverson in the lineup. They then won four of five, including a road victory over the previously undefeated Lakers, but are now currently in a funk in which they have dropped three of their last five. Detroit hopes their effort against San Antonio a few nights back will put them back on the right track. The Pistons beat back a Spurs halftime lead and held them to only 32 second half points to get the road win 89-77.

Philadelphia may yearn for the golden days of Iverson as they will be missing their new franchise player, Elton Brand, for tonight's game with a strained hamstring. Brand suffered the injury in Wednesday's 114-103 loss to the Lakers.

This will be the first meeting of the season between the 76ers and Pistons. The teams split their four regular season games a year ago, with both teams winning on each others' court once. They also met in the first round of the postseason last year with the 76ers claiming two of the first three games only to watch the Pistons win three straight to take the series in six games.

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