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Preview: Oklahoma City Thunder (1-0) at Detroit Pistons (1-0), 8 p.m.
Posted October 30, 2009
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(Sports Network) - New Detroit players Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva will make their home debuts tonight, when the Pistons welcome the Oklahoma City Thunder to The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Detroit opened the season with a 96-74 victory at Memphis on Wednesday, as Gordon registered 22 points off the bench and Villanueva contributed seven points in a winning effort. Richard Hamilton led all scorers with 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting and Tayshaun Prince tallied 14 points for the Pistons, who were swept by Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs last year to end a run of six consecutive Eastern Conference finals appearances.

"It is the right type of way to win," said new Pistons head coach John Kuester. "We had good offensive flow and defensively we were getting stops. That's the thing that was so impressive tonight."

Hamilton is questionable for Friday with a sprained right ankle.

Oklahoma City, meanwhile, is in the midst of playing three of its first four games at home and won its season opener, 102-89, versus Sacramento on Wednesday from the Ford Center.

Young star Kevin Durant sizzled on opening night with 25 points and 11 rebounds to pace Oklahoma City. Jeff Green added 24 points and eight rebounds for the Thunder, who finished last season in the basement of the Northwest Division with a 23-59 record.

Nenad Krstic scored 20 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while Russell Westbrook notched 14 points, 13 assists and seven boards in a winning cause.

"His performance was unbelievable," Durant said of Westbrook. "It was probably the best game I've ever seen him play. He ran the team well. He gave us the ball in good positions."

After visiting the Pistons, the Thunder will return home to host the Trail Blazers and Lakers.

Oklahoma City and Detroit split a pair of matchups last season, while the Pistons have won eight of nine and 10 of the previous 14 games in this series.


 
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