Pistons to play Nuggets on Tuesday
Iverson hopes he’ll be able to return in time for this game.
And while Piston fans like yours truly hope Chauncey will be back in a Piston uniform, since the Pistons really really need the guy back this 2009 NBA basketball season, that simply won’t be the case.
You see, the Detroit Pistons made the big mistake of trading Chauncey Billups away to Denver for Allen Iverson this season and this will be the first time that Chauncey returns to Detroit since that deal that virtually tore the Pistons, along with their chances of another title, apart.
It’s going to be the Denver Nuggets visiting the ailing Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills as All-Star guard Chauncey Billups pay his former teammates a visit and probably make Pistons manager Joe Dumars look more of an ass than a Piston Hall of Famer.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to determine that the Nuggets got the better end of the Allen Iverson – Chauncey Billups deal. Billups, even with Carmelo Anthony out most of the time, has been able to lead the Nuggets to one of the best records in the West.
Allen Iverson, on the other hand, destroyed the chemistry the Pistons established for five years while leading Detroit to playoff elimination this early into the season.
For what it’s worth, the Pistons are beginning to get it together lately and I’m not surprised that they are doing it WITHOUT Iverson. With Iverson out because of a sore back, the Pistons were able to bring Richard Hamilton back in the starting lineup and it paid off. Hamilton scored 31 points in a 93-85 win over the Orlando Magic before scoring 25 in a 105-95 win over the defending NBA champions, Boston Celtics.
Still, the Pistons have a lot of work to do. Back to back wins over Orlando and Boston may have brought the Pistons back from obscurity in the East but with them sitting at a mediocre 29-29 mark, elimination from the playoff race still lurks in the shadows.
Iverson is set to return in time to play the Nuggets, although I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad one for Detroit.
Can the Detroit Pistons beat the Denver Nuggets? Bodog sportsbook has the odds.
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