DETROIT — The Lakers might as well call Detroit the Portland of the Eastern Conference, even though it doesn't have the look or feel of a drizzly day in a quaint Pacific Northwest city.
The Lakers have endured a drought here that more than matches their futility streak in Portland, an 0-9 mark in the Motor City tracing back to their last victory here in March 2002.
It includes some blowouts (103-81 in 2005 and 111-88 in 2003), a last-second loss (90-89 in January 2008) and, most famously, three consecutive one-sided defeats in the 2004 NBA Finals.
The rosters have shifted for both teams over the years, but the losses haven't stopped dropping on the Lakers.
"They play defense, you know?" guard Derek Fisher said. "It makes it tough to win games there."
This might be the Lakers' time to sneak in a victory tonight against the injury-riddled Pistons.
Despite an early-season victory in Los Angeles, the Pistons (34-36) simply aren't what they used to be.
Point guard Chauncey Billups was traded to Denver during the first week of the season, and his replacement in Detroit, Allen Iverson, hasn't fared so well, shooting only 41.7% and scoring what would be a career-low 18 points a game. Iverson has missed every game this month because of a back injury and is not expected to play tonight.
Pistons shooting guard Richard Hamilton also has been sidelined, missing five games because of a groin injury, as has center Rasheed Wallace, who has missed eight games because of a sore calf. Neither player is expected to play tonight, though Hamilton appears to be closer in his recovery than Wallace.
Wallace and Iverson each had 25 points in the Pistons' 106-95 mid-November victory at Staples Center as the Lakers were pushed around in the post. Adding insult to ineffectiveness, former Lakers center Kwame Brown didn't look half bad for Detroit, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds in one of his first games after signing a two-year, $8-million deal with the Pistons.
"He outplayed Andrew [Bynum] tonight," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said at the time.
Last season in Detroit, the Lakers fought back from a 17-point deficit only to lose by one after Lamar Odom airballed a 19-footer with two seconds left.
"That was a tough one," Jackson said this week.
Maybe things won't be so tough tonight. The Lakers could use a victory to stay with Cleveland in the race for the league's best record. Maybe they can finally end their frustrating jinx in Detroit.
