Having not beat the Pistons in more than one year, Lakers Coach Phil Jackson cautioned that tonight’s match-up with Detroit will not be an easy affair for his team. The Pistons are an aggressive, scrappy bunch that dictates tempo with ease–a potential problem that Jackson isolated as one of the keys to tonight’s game. Prior to scoring 93 points in their victory over Houston two nights ago, the Lakers were second in the league in scoring, an statistic that Jackson said is a testament to the new, faster paced offense he implemented prior to this season. Jackson also praised the contributions of the vastly improved Lakers bench.
The Lakers will be without forward Ronny Turiaf who would have made for a great match-up with Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace. Although Jackson said several important Lakers did not play in last year’s losses to Detroit due to injury, tonight’s game presents a relatively healthy squad, with the exception of Turiaf. In looking to tonight’s game, Jackson singled out the battle between Kobe Bryant and the Pistons Tayshaun Prince as the key match-up in tonight’s contest. Prince brings outstanding length and defensive instinct to the table, two traits that have caused problems for Bryant in the past.
Despite beating the Rockets only a few nights ago, Jackson was unsure whether or not there would be any carry-over to tonight’s game since the mood in the locker room after the win was more indicative of a loss following the narrow victory. If the Lakers are fortunate enough to build a lead tonight over the annual title contenders, they will have to display more of a killer instinct as Detroit is a relentless team that will not fall flat.
