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Just an exhibition game, say Heat

Some NBA teams are traveling in Europe these days, taking on European basketball clubs eager to beat an American team. Other NBA teams are taking on their own, and although only pre-season exhibition games are being played between the teams, there seems to be a lot at stake. At least that was the Detroit Pistons attitude when they took the floor against defending champions Miami Heat.

In their exhibition season opener in Puerto Rico, the Pistons beat the Heat 84-64 in a turn-over plagued game, which was a repeat of the Eastern Conference Finals of last season. In that series, the Heat came from behind to win the best of seven series and advance to the finals, where they beat the Dallas Mavericks. The Heat`s stars Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O`Neal saw little floor action this time, and finished with five and four points, respectively.

Perhaps the Pistons found additional motivation in proving their strength without defense specialist Ben Wallace who had left for the Chicago Bulls. Their defense played well, forcing 25 turnovers, and Wallace`s replacement, Nazr Mohammed, was initiated early and often. The Pistons` new starting center scored 16 points on 5-12 shooting. He was also fed in the post nearly 10 times in the first quarter alone. On one occasion he completed a three point play of a pass from point guard Chauncey Billups.