It was almost a historical event that the sellout crowd of 22,076 witnessed Friday night. No, not the Rodney White bobblehead giveaway.
  Before the game, the Utah Jazz announced that forward Karl Malone would miss the game because of flu-like symptoms.
  "I still have trouble believing it," Pistons Coach Rick Carlisle said before the game. "Maybe if he's not out there at the opening tip, I'll believe it."
  Carlisle and the other disbelieving Pistons found it to be true -- no Malone.
  Malone has put up Hall of Fame numbers in his career, but what's often overlooked is his incredible durability.
  Before Friday night, Malone had not missed a game because of health reasons since April 22, 1989, when he missed the second of two games with a sprained ankle.
  In his 17-year career, including Friday, Malone has missed eight games, four due to suspension and four because of injury or illness.
  "I know he puts a lot of effort into his workout regime, but it's not just that," said Jerry Stackhouse. "When you go that long without missing a game, you've got to be blessed. But I'm sure there's been a lot of days when he didn't want to go out there, he was all banged up, but he went out there anyway -- you have to give him credit for that."
  Malone leads the team in almost every statistical category, except assists, which longtime teammate John Stockton has cornered the market on.
  "You never want to believe it that he's not going to be out there. But if you can't go, you can't go," Cliff Robinson said. "They're still a great team without him."