In his first NBA regular-season game, Pistons guard Arron Afflalo will be in the starting lineup for the team’s opener at Miami tonight, according to the Associated Press.

Afflalo will fill in for Rip Hamilton, who is tending to a family emergency. Head coach Flip Saunders said Hamilton, the team’s leading scorer last season (19.8 ppg), could possibly rejoin the team for Friday’s game at Orlando, according to the AP report.

Afflalo, the 27th overall selection in the 2007 draft, played in all eight preseason games, averaging 9.0 points and 3.1 rebounds. He shot 46.9 percent from the field and 42.9 from 3-point range.

Hamilton, who sprained his left ankle Oct. 14 and sat out the remaining four preseason games as a precaution, was not expected to miss any regular-season time for medical reasons. He has played in 180 of the Pistons’ 189 games (playoffs included) the past two years.