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A.J. Price will get his first start Friday against the Pistons in Conseco Fieldhouse. (NBAE/Getty Images)

From the second round to a spot on the roster to regular place in the rotation, it's been a season of progress from rookie A.J. Price. He'll take yet another step Friday when he makes his first career start against the Pistons in Conseco Fieldhouse.

Veteran starter Earl Watson will miss the next two games due to the death of his grandmother, so Price will move up Friday and again Saturday in Milwaukee against Brandon Jennings and the Bucks.

"I'm going to take it and try to run with it," Price said. "Just go out there and try to do what I've been doing regardless of how many minutes I get, try to bring the same tempo, same intensity and just try to run the club."

Price was bumped into the rotation on Jan. 2, filling the backup role in 18 games since, averaging 9.8 points and 2.2 assists while shooting .438 from the field and .369 from the 3-point line.

"It's done a lot for me, personally. It's given me a lot of confidence," said Price of the chance to play regularly. "I'm still taking it game by game. Each game is a different task and I'm still learning on the fly. It's been a great opportunity for me so far."

Price has impressed with his maturity and ability to run the pick-and-roll effectively. He's not as much of a creator as Watson but is a more effective 3-point shooter and his ability to space the court could prove crucial.

"I think he's been playing solid basketball," said Coach Jim O'Brien. "It's not so long ago he was starting every game for Connecticut. Certainly he's got his hands full with (Detroit's Rodney) Stuckey because of how strong he is, so we'll see. Everything that changes for A.J. is good for him so getting a chance to start will be very good for him. …

"He's had his ups and downs, he's done some good things, he's gotten lost defensively some games, but he plays with confidence and I just think he needs to be out there as many minutes as possible because that's the only way to really develop a point guard in the NBA, to give him experience. I think this experience has been a great thing for him and a great thing for us from the standpoint of being able to evaluate what we have in him."

Price's start will leave Travis Diener as the only player on the roster that hasn't started at least one game this season.

Ford moves back into the rotation

With Price in the starting lineup, T.J. Ford will serve as the backup for the next two games. Ford hasn't played since Dec. 30, when O'Brien opted to make Watson the starter and shift Price to the backup role.

"It's been tough," Ford said. "You want to play any time you're on the roster. All 15 guys here want to get out there and try to be as productive as they can. But it's a waiting game, it's out of my control, so I'll just do the best I can to stay in shape and continue to work on my game and when that day comes, it comes."

Ford started 25 of the first 31 games, averaging 9.9 points and 3.6 assists. He struggled mightily from the 3-point line, making just 1-of-28.

After sitting for more than a month, Ford may have some rust to knock off, but the veteran has kept himself prepared.

"I think T.J. is a gamer, a very competitive guy," said O'Brien, "and I think he'll step up."

Conner earns praise from O'Brien

O'Brien was back at practice Thursday after missing Tuesday's 130-115 victory over Toronto to attend his mother-in-law's funeral. He praised the job done by assistant Lester Conner, who filled in for the head coach.

"I think Lester did a great job," O'Brien said. "I told Lester when we were coming back from Toronto (after a 117-102 road loss on Jan. 31), 'I'm not going to kibbutz, I'm not going to talk to you. You've been doing this a long time.'

"I think Lester's head coaching material. I've thought that for a long time. At some point in time somebody's going to realize that and he's going to make somebody a great head coach."

O'Brien had been starting a small lineup but Conner went big, starting Roy Hibbert and Troy Murphy in the frontcourt.

"I've been around Coach O'Brien a long time so I know what he wants and how he wants it," said Conner. "Now, what he did say to me on the plane was to do whatever I needed to do to get a win. He said, 'You have it, go ahead and get it done.' We did some things differently as far as offense but defensively we didn't. We ran a couple of wrinkles with the screen-and-roll plays and just told them to attack. If you looked out there on the floor there wasn't too much stuff that was new."

Conner filled in for O'Brien once before when both were in Philadelphia and the head coach came down with a severe case of the flu. The 76ers beat Atlanta, so Conner's record as a temp is 2-0.

"It was fun, especially when you know you're prepared and ready to go," Conner said. "The coaching staff did a heck of a job with suggestions and input and what we needed to do. They had fun with it, I had fun with it and the guys had fun with us. It was good for everybody involved."