AUBURN HILLS -- The Detroit Pistons certainly would have liked better than a split of their four-game homestand. Now, they try to compensate by stealing similar results from a four-game road trip.
The Pistons are 2-4 entering tonight's game at Chicago, and after a disappointing loss Sunday to the Utah Jazz, their next challenge is how to handle their longest road trip of the season.
Here are five things to watch this week:
1. It really is a circus around here
It has become a November tradition that the Pistons hit the road for a few days so the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus can take over The Palace of Auburn Hills. So it's not exactly the San Antonio Spurs' annual Rodeo Road Trip. It's not as long, for one thing. It also hasn't produced the same springboard into successful postseason runs -- or even unsuccessful ones, for that matter. But it's a tradition, even if you didn't even know it was happening each year.
The trip to Chicago tonight, Washington on Wednesday, Oklahoma City on Friday and Memphis on Saturday makes up the Pistons' longest uninterrupted road swing of the year. They do have another four-game trip, but that's a brutal western four-in-five in March, so the current four-in-six trip is longer. Oh, and all four road opponents this week made the playoffs last season, too.
2. This is how it works in the real world
The Pistons play five games this calendar week, one of four such scheduling situations this year. It began with the back-to-back Sunday at home against Utah and Monday at Chicago -- one of just two Sunday-Monday back-to-backs this season -- then continues with the rest of the road trip.
The Pistons will spend their days off Tuesday in Washington and Thursday in Oklahoma City, though they'll probably be too exhausted to enjoy them much.
3. Don't be scared of Thunder, it's just noise
Poor Oklahoma City. Even Dallas owner Mark Cuban said he wouldn't blame the Thunder if they just tanked the rest of the season and tried to set themselves up with another top draft pick after losing both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook to injuries.
Well, poor Oklahoma City also happens to be the only NBA venue where the Pistons never have won. Detroit nearly stole one in the final game last season, when the Thunder got 27 of their 33 fourth-quarter points from Durant and Westbrook (21 from Durant) and snatched back a 112-111 victory. That made the Thunder 6-0 all-time at home against the Pistons since the former Seattle SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City.
The Pistons have a decent chance to break that streak now that teams sort of look forward to playing Oklahoma City -- at least, until the Thunder get healthy.
4. The Butler earns some 12K gold
Caron Butler has gotten buckets for a lot of years, including a pair of 20-point-average scoring seasons for the Washington Wizards back when they weren't very good. Now on his eighth team and running out of time to add the other 22 to his resume, the 34-year-old Butler will have to settle for cracking the 12,000-point career scoring club instead. He needs 43 points and averages 8.3, so he'll need a little extra output to make it in this week's remaining four games. If not, maybe next Monday against Orlando.
There have been 222 NBA players who scored 12,000 career points. Butler ranks 228th all-time with 11,955. In the next few days, and before hitting 12,000, Butler will pass Mookie Blaylock (11,962), Danny Ainge and Cuttino Mobley (11,964), Michael Redd (11,972) and Truck Robinson (11,988).
5. Limping back home
The early season will have taken some clearer form by the time the Pistons return to The Palace next Monday against the Magic, the opener of a stretch in which they play nine out of 12 games at home. These early road trips have tended to sap the Pistons in recent years, so what kind of shape they are in by this time next week remains to be seen. But it is essential to protect home court, and to that end, there are two major scheduling periods the Pistons have to dominate. One is a period from late January to late February, when they play nine of 11 at home. The other is the upcoming mid-November to mid-December run of home games.