In adversity comes opportunity for Pistons

When Rasheed Wallace limped off The Palace floor two minutes into the second quarter of their New Year's eve win over New Jersey, the Pistons led by two points. So they know they can play without Wallace, without Antonio McDyess and without Rip Hamilton.

They'd just rather not be forced to prove it.

But that looks like it's going to be the case again tonight, when the struggling Sacramento Kings come to town. The Pistons have declared Wallace and Hamilton both unfit, which isn't a surprise. When Hamilton revealed before Wednesday's game that his groin is slightly torn, not just strained, getting him back any time before the West Coast trip starts on Sunday seemed unduly optimistic. And given that Wallace said the foot injury has been bothering him for a while, and wasn't just incurred when he blocked Yi Jianlian's layup try, something more than a 48-hour recovery seemed in order.

McDyess could probably use another week to allow his bruised ribs to heal, too. If you've ever taken a hard shot to the ribs, you know how painful it can be to raise your arm, never mind banging with NBA power forwards - and God forbid a sneeze sneaks up on you.

Not that there's ever a good time to incur injuries, but now - with a momentum born of confidence and familiarity starting to build - seems a particularly lousy stretch, especially with a Western Conference death march ahead of them. After Sunday's warmup act against the Clippers, the Pistons close with a brutal three game stretch in four nights: Portland, Denver, Utah.

Coaches are conditioned to line up with whoever shows up in uniform, though, and knowing the fighter that Michael Curry is, he's going to look at this as an opportunity and sell it that way to his team.

An opportunity for Allen Iverson to shoulder more of the scoring load and speed the process of him feeling more comfortable taking over for longer stretches. An opportunity for Rodney Stuckey's growth as the point guard and de facto leader to accelerate. An opportunity for Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell and Kwame Brown to prove themselves to their teammates as more than situational players. An opportunity for Arron Afflalo to cement the spot in the rotation he's recently earned. And an opportunity for Will Bynum and Walter Herrmann, who've both proven in glimpses that they belong, to carve out a niche.

Curry has shown he's willing to think unconventionally, something rare enough in veteran coaches, let alone a first-timer. So even though he might have only nine able bodies for tonight's game if McDyess can't go - Walter Sharpe and Alex Acker were assigned to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants on Friday morning - he'll freely tinker with lineup combinations until he finds something that works.

It doesn't hurt any that the Kings likely will be without second-year 7-footer Spencer Hawes, who's missed the last two days of practice with an abdominal strain. That makes the Kings even more of a finesse team. Outside of veteran center Brad Miller, the big men are slender ex-Piston Mikki Moore and rookie Jason Thompson.

So Curry could go small against the Kings frequently, with Prince or Herrmann at power forward and Afflalo at small forward with Bynum giving Stuckey the three or four minutes of rest each half he might require and Iverson, as he's often said he prefers, playing all 48.

The Pistons carry a five-game winning streak into the Kings game. You never like tinkering with your lineup when the results keep coming back positive. But necessity dictates otherwise. The Pistons, from Michael Curry to Will Bynum, have an 8 o'clock tipoff with opportunity.

• The Pistons had said all along that they liked having Sharpe with them because of his sleep disorder, narcolepsy, that was only diagnosed about a year ago. The fact they're sending him to Fort Wayne indicates that they feel Sharpe can shoulder the responsibility of being more or less on his own in a new environment. Because he played only 18 games in his final three years of college - largely due to academic issues resulting from his disorder - the chance to soak up some game experience should greatly benefit Sharpe.

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