BOSTON, April 27 -- The Detroit Pistons will have help in the frontcourt as they struggle for playoff position in the Eastern Conference after activating forward Christian Laettner Tuesday from the injured list. Laettner was available for Tuesday night's game against the Boston Celtics.
He missed 12 games with a fractured rib after absorbing an elbow from Chicago Bulls forward Mark Bryant on April 2. Laettner was playing in only his 10th game of the season after missing 22 due to a ruptured Achilles tendon. He was averaging 8.5 points and 4.3 rebounds since being reunited with former college teammate Grant Hill. The Pistons (24-20) acquired Laettner from the Atlanta Hawks during the offseason. Detroit had won six straight and pulled within one-half game of Indiana for first place in the Central Division with Laettner in the lineup, but dropped eight of 12 since his latest injury. The Pistons, who placed reserve guard Khalid Reeves on the injured list with a lower back strain to make room for Laettner, were seventh in the East, one-half game ahead of New York and behind Milwaukee. The 6-11 Laettner, who made $5.35 million in the final year of a six- year, $21.6 million contract last season, turned down a seven-year offer from Atlanta over the summer. Detroit obtained him just before the season in a sign-and-trade deal with the Hawks. Laettner agreed to a reported three-year, $18 million deal and was sent to Detroit for second-year forward Scot Pollard and a conditional 1999 first-round pick. The 29-year-old Laettner averaged a career-low 13.8 points in 1998 and lost his starting job to Alan Henderson. The lockout allowed him to rehabilitate the Achilles injury suffered in a pickup game on the Duke University campus.
