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Lindsey Hunter, who has only been active once over the last 16 games, missed practice on Monday in order to have a root canal performed. Hunter was expected to make the trip to Indiana.

Different night, completely different challenge for the Pistons.After a long run of playing mostly traditional half-court-oriented teams, the Pistons will get to test their powers tonight against the dreaded small-ball style of Indiana. "Without Jermaine O'Neal, Indiana has changed their style," coach Flip Saunders said Monday. "They put five perimeter players out there and play very open.

They play like Phoenix and Golden State, just very open." Once upon a time, the Pistons struggled mightily with small-ball teams. They never seemed sure how to attack them -- punish them with their size or downsize their own lineup. Those days are mostly gone. "I think we have a pretty good handle on it now," Tayshaun Prince said. "We have to slow it down, put (the tempo) in our favor as far as putting the ball inside and playing inside-out. Every once in awhile we get caught up playing how those guys play; sometimes it backfires and sometimes it doesn't. But in crucial situations, with the game on the line, we have had success against smaller teams."

The Pacers, who have dropped three straight, lost O'Neal to a sore left knee. Without him, they are playing Troy Murphy at center, with 6-foot-9 forwards Danny Granger and Mike Dunleavy. The Pistons should be able to pick their mismatch on the offensive end. The worry will be how they defend the quicker forwards. "We have to make them defend us in the half-court," Saunders said. "We still like to stay big, but with Amir (Johnson) emerging as our fourth big man, he's a guy who maybe can play against those guys because of his quickness and athleticism." Saunders said he would resort to a smaller lineup only if necessary and said that going to a zone might be the preferable option to downsizing.The Pistons beat the Pacers twice already with O'Neal. They have beaten the small-ball Warriors twice, the small-ball Grizzlies twice and the small-ball Hawks three times. They have yet to play the Suns.

The Detroit Pistons will be in Indianapolis tonight to face the Pacers for the third time this season. But they won't go up against forward Jermaine O'Neal, who hasn't played since Jan. 16 because of a knee injury.

O'Neal scored a combined 45 points in two losses to the Pistons this season. Without him, the Pacers go from having a legitimate low-post threat to a lineup with up to five perimeter players."They're very open, kind of playing a little bit like Phoenix plays and Golden State," Saunders said. "We've got to go down there and make sure we can control tempo of the game and make them play our game -- half-court situations and make them defend us."

With forward Amir Johnson now in the rotation, Saunders said the Pistons will try to go with a bigger lineup against Indiana, although there could be times when they have to get out and run. Depending on how small the Pacers go, the Pistons could counter with a zone defense, which would help stop penetration. "They've had a lot of success going small ball," Prince said, "so hopefully we can be prepared when the time is right, when the game is close."

"We have to make them defend us in the half-court," Saunders said. "We still like to stay big, but with Amir (Johnson) emerging as our fourth big man, he's a guy who maybe can play against those guys because of his quickness and athleticism."

The Pistons beat the Pacers twice already with O'Neal. They have beaten the small-ball Warriors twice, the small-ball Grizzlies twice and the small-ball Hawks three times. They have yet to play the Suns.

The skinny: The Pacers