Preview, C's at Pistons

[Steve Huffman <stevhuff@eastky.net>]

Saturday, December 13th
----------------------
BOSTON CELTICS ON TV
---------------------------------
W3-3        WSBK
PRIMESTAR TV
DIRECT TV

NBA on  TV
 -------------------------------
Washington at Indiana, 7 p.m. - Land lines
Boston at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. - W3-3s
Philadelphia at New York, 7:30 p.m. - F4-6s
Charlotte at Cleveland, 7:30 p.m. - Land lines
Denver at New Jersey, 7:30 p.m. - F1-18s
Phoenix at Minnesota, 8 p.m. - Land lines
Orlando at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m. - F1-24s
Toronto at Chicago, 8:30 p.m. - F1-1s, G5-7s, ( WGN-TV)
Miami at Milwaukee, 9 p.m. - Land lines
Sacramento at Golden State, 10:30 p.m. - Land lines

NBA Preview (Boston-Detroit)

Boston (9-11) at Detroit (10-12) 7:30 pm EST

The Detroit Pistons try to improve upon their season-best three-
game winning streak when they host the Boston Celtics tonight.

Detroit won its third game in a row and second straight at home
with a 103-99 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Thursday.
It was just the third time this season the Pistons have scored
over 100 points, but they have allowed the opponent to reach
the century mark just once in the last 16 games.

Joe Dumars scored all of his season-high 22 points in the
second half and Brian Williams had 19 points and 11 rebounds
against the Nets. Dumars became the sixth different player to
lead the Pistons in scoring this season.

The Celtics are after their 10th victory of the season, a total
they did not reach until the 42nd game of last season, on
January 31st. Following a five-game losing streak, Boston won
its second straight contest Friday with a 97-88
victory over Washington. The Celtics, who have lost three
straight road games, are 6-0 against teams under .500.

Chauncey Billups got off to a rough start in his rookie season
but has picked up his game recently. He scored 15 points in
the win over the Wizards and is averaging 18.0 in the last
three contests.

Boston snapped a five-game losing streak against the Pistons
with a 90-86 victory on November 23rd. The Celtics have lost
four straight games in Detroit, last winning there on December
30th, 1994.

                   © 1997 SportsTicker Enterprises, LP

Game #21 for Boston
Road Game #8
at The Palace of Auburn Hills



BOSTON'S  PROBABLE STARTERS:


F    Antoine Walker
          Celtics leader in scoring with 22.1 ppg. and
          rebounding with 10.3 rpg. averages.

F    Walter McCarty
         Averaging 11.1 ppg. and 29 minutes per game.

C    Travis Knight
          Team's 2nd leading rebounder with 7 rpg.
          average while averaging 9.7 ppg.

G    Ron Mercer
         Team's 2nd leading scorer with 13 ppg.


G    Chauncey Billups
          Averaging 9.8 ppg. in 22 minutes per game.


INJURY REPORT:
Travis Knight sprained his left ankle vs. Washington (12/12),
and is listed as questionable for tonight's game. Dee Brown
was placed on the Injured List (12/10) due to Influenza.
John Thomas was placed on the Injured List (11/29) with
a left quadriceps contusion. Roy Rogers was placed on the
Injured List (10/30) with right knee pain.

LAST GAME:

Boston dumped the Washington Wizards 97-88 in the FleetCenter
(12/12)... the Celtics went on a 20-2 run (over a 5:51 span), to
overcome an 11-point 4th quarter deficit... Boston outscored the
Wizards 28-10 in the fourth quarter and  out-shot the visitors 48%
(40-84) to 42% (32-76) overall... Antoine Walker paced
the Green with 23 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals...
Chauncey  Billups netted 15 points and Ron Mercer contributed 13
for Boston... Juwan Howard posted 22 points and Chris Webber
recorded 20 points and 11 boards for  the Wizards.

DETROIT'S PROBABLE STARTERS:




F    Grant Hill
         Averaging 19.9 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 7.9 apg, 1.6 spg...
          Posted double-doubles in four of his last five
         games including a triple-double versus Phoenix  on 12/3...

F    Theo Ratliff
         Averaging 6.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.04 bpg... Started
         the past four games, had three points, six
          rebounds and four blocks versus Nets....

C    Brian Williams
          Averaging 18.9 ppg, 10.1 rpg...Averaging 22.3 ppg
          and 11.6 rpg over last 10 games...Posted double
          figures in points in 21 straight games...

G     Joe Dumars
           Averaging 7.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 3.3 apg... Scored 22
            points (6-11 FGs, 3-6 triples) versus the Nets on
           Thursday, all in the second half...

G    Lindsey Hunter
          Averaging 16.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.0 apg, 2.2 spg...
          Played a career-high 57 minutes vs. Phoenix on
          12/3, getting a career-high 11 rebounds...


DETROIT'S  INJURY REPORT:
Rick Mahorn is on the injured list with right foot tendinitis....

LAST GAME:
Detroit 103, New Jersey 99 12/11/97 The Palace of Auburn Hills
The Pistons won their third straight game for the first time this
season, outscoring the Nets, 57-50 in the decisive second half,
behind 22 points from Joe Dumars...Dumars scored all of those
points in that second half (11 in each quarter) as he played all 24
minutes...Four other Pistons were also in double figures, including
Malik Sealy, who posted 14 off the bench in 22 minutes of action...
The Pistons shot 37-68 from the field for their highest field goal
percentage of the year, .544, while also outtrebounding the Nets,
39-33...Aside from marking three straight wins for
Detroit, the game also marked the third straight in which the
Pistons had outrebounded their opponent...



  NBA MATCHUPS      YEAR TO DATE          LAST 5 HOME OR AWAY
STREAKS
  SAT, DEC 13     SU     ATS    OU       SU   ATS    PF-PA   OU
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   3 CELTICS       9-11   13-7    11-9      2-3   3-2-0  105-108   5-0-0

   4 PISTONS     10-12   10-10  10-10    3-2    1-4-0    93-92    4-1-0


 AHEAD FOR THE CELTICS
-----------------------------------------------
December  15 Philadelphia 7:00 SCNE
                 17 @ Toronto 7:00 SCNE
                  21 LA Clippers 7:00 SCNE
                  23 Charlotte 8:00 TNT

Steve Huffman