The 23-42 Pistons are in Atlanta on a second game of a back to back to take on the 41-23 Hawks tonight. Unfortunately this game will not be televised locally, so the only way you are going to catch it is with NBA League pass or by watching online.

Can Will “Thrill” us again tonight? I’m sure he can, Bynum had one of his best shooting performances this season in the last game against the Hawks, scoring 19 points off the bench while making 8 of 13 attempts.

As for Ben Wallace, he’s still listed as day to day and as we know Rodney has no timetable on his return.

The Scouting Report via Pistons.com

Tip is at 7:00 pm EST with the radio broadcast over at 950 AM WWJ or follow the action online over at NBA.com.

NEED4SHEED GAME CHAT

Key Points

Disclaimer – This will be a Bynum filled recap.

• Things just started good in this one, Will had a handful of assists in what it seemed like a few minutes and Rip was on fire.
• Regardless of the fact the Washington is not a great team, this team looked great and Will just dominated.
• One of those pretty Rip to Tayshuan alley oops that reminded me of the good old days.  You can thank Maxi for it too!

Video Courtesy of the NBA and the Detroit Pistons

• Speaking of Maxiell, he seems to be back! A double-double with 10 boards, 12 points, a steal and 2 blocks.
  Haven’t had that much fun at the Palace in quite a long time, thank you Will.
• Tay and Rip both finished the game with 18 points.
• I’m amazed every game with the amount of fans gained by Jonas Jerebko.  18 points for the Swede with 3 steal, 8 boards and a heck of a lot of swagger when Singleton got in his face.  That’s the kind of technical foul I like.  Jonas = he anti Sheed.
• Will just looked like he had eyes in the back of his head and made a point of getting the ball to his teammates in any manner that he good.  The career high 20 assists where the most from a Detroit Piston since Isiah Thomas on April 12th 1985.
• “That means a lot to me,” said Bynum, a Chicago native like Thomas. “I grew up watching Isiah play, and to do something that he did is huge.” Via The Detroit Free Press

Photo/Getty Images

• Will’s Bynumite Highlight Reel.

Video Courtesy of the NBA and the Detroit Pistons

• Can’t tell you how excited the crowd was, we knew something special was going to happen as soon as he hit his previous mark of 14.  The crowd went nuts after each one…I almost lost track.
• Even the few points Bynum did score were pretty.
• When will was at 18 the bench never sat down and when he kept feeding DaJuan Summers and he was missing it we all could feel the pain.
• I really didn’t think he was going to pull off 20, but Ben Gordon finally made Pistons fans smile when he knocked down the last shot.  Here is the last play of the game, Will’s 20th assist.

Video Courtesy of the NBA and the Detroit Pistons

• Love how Maxiell handed him the game ball.
• Will Bynum post game interview.

Video Courtesy of the NBA and the Detroit Pistons

• At the end of the first quarter, I thought I had a chance to get Kevin Porter’s (team) record of 25, but I don’t think the coach and I had the same mindset,” Via The Detroit Free
• A meaningless game just turned into something special for Will and a whole lot of Pistons fans. Something tells me if you leave Will a message in the comments, he might just see it.

The 22-42 Pistons are at home to take on the 21-41 Washington Wizards at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Simply put, this is a battle for lottery position.  The Wizards will attempt to break a five game losing streak to the Pistons and earn their first win at the Palace since Jan. 26, 2007.

Will Bynum will start again in place of Rodney Stuckey and Ben Wallace is till listed as day to day.  Chris Wilcox is also unavailable for Detroit with a bad back.

The Scouting Report via Pistons.com

Tip is at 8:00 pm EST and will be televised on FS Detroit. For the radio broadcast tune in to 97.1 the Ticket or follow the action over at NBA.com.

NEED4SHEED GAME CHAT

Key Points:

• Another game without Ben Wallace and another game that shows just how much the man anchored the entire defense.  Besides the Swede, we look as soft at the Pilsbury dough-boy.
• Nice to see Stuckey on the bench in street clothes.  He’s missed dearly, just hope he really is ok.
• The Pistons second unit is NOT getting it done.
• The Utah streak against the Pistons now stands at 10 in a row.
• At one point during a run, the Jazz were shooting close to 70%, while they held the Pistons to 31%.
• Yes, it really was that bad Jonas.

Photo/Getty Images

• Never noticed this lineup, which Kuester showed in the third. Tay, Daye, Ben Gordon, Charlie V and Jonas.
• It just has to be in Ben Gordon’s head at this point. He can’t hit a shot for anything. Ben shot 4-for-11 for 11 points…it will come.
• Utah is a very good team.
• Charlie Villanueva led Detroit with 19 points on 8-for-18 shooting in 26 minutes on the floor. I know he played ok, but it’s like a Sheed deja-vu ——POST UP CV!
• Detroit allowed the Jazz a 56% shooting night and seemed to contest absolutely noting in the paint.
• At this point, more A Daye and DaJuan please.
• Another start for Will Bynum who wasn’t hitting much either. Will went 4-for-10 and took some ill advised shots. He was clearly outmatched against Deron and he wracked up just 2 assists.
• Double-double for Jason Maxiell with 11 boards and 10 points. He’s doing what he can to pick up the slack for Wallace.
• Looked like the Pistons were all playing one on one basketball until they got into trouble and either jacked up a bad shot or passed it away when getting trapped. No semblance of any types of plays or organization offensively or defensively.
• Jonas Jerebko 13 points, 5 boards and three steals. I’ll not even going out on a limb when I say he’s currently the fan favorite at the Palace and it really shows.
• Best part of the game, The Need4Sweed putback jam.

Video Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons and The NBA

• Oh and BTW, did anyone notice the Need For Sweed custom jersey in the crowd!

Summers, Daye and Jerebko were really working hard for about an hour before tip, which they do before every game.  One would think someone (BG) should be out there as long as the rooks are to get his flow back……just saying.

When I was asked to do another guest post at Need4Sheed, I jumped at the opportunity. When I was asked to pick a game, I naturally chose the Knicks game because they can’t possibly beat the Pistons right? No? So for guest post #2 of my N4S career, I am stuck writing a recap of the worst loss of the season. Earlier, if you’ll remember, I wrote about the Pistons disastrous loss to the Indiana Pacers on the 22nd of January. So, whether you want to remember or not, here we go:

Final Score Pistons 104 Knicks 128

• Jonas Jerebko is above and beyond the player of the night: 15 points (4-9 fg, 2-2 3pt, 5-7 FT) with 13 rebounds (4 offensive) in 34 minutes.
• Only Austin Daye had a positive plus/minus (+6) for the Pistons, everyone else was a negative (Richard Hamilton was a team worst, -22).
• With the Pistons down 20+ with a little over 2 minutes to go DaJuan Summers, Chucky Atkins and Kwame Brown got some burn. I guess being down by as much as 27 at one point doesn’t mean that perhaps another group could provide a spark huh Coach Q?
• Actually since you’ve been reading this, the score is now 134-104 as Al Harrington has hit 2 more 3 pointers.
• At least the Maxiell did what he could in place of Ben Wallace.

Photo/Getty Images

• I remember when I played basketball, they taught me to put my hands up on opponent’s shot attempts. The Knicks shot 55% from the field, 52% from 3. The Knicks made 6 more shots than the Pistons on 4 less shots. Where’s the D?
• Newly acquired Bill Walker scored a career high 22 points on 9-13 shooting. So tell me Rip, Tayshaun, Daye, and whoever else guarded 2nd year SG/SF Bill Walker who couldn’t see any time in Boston… how does Bill Walker absolutely embarrass you like that?  This dunk didn’t help.

Video Courtesy of The NBA

• Tracy McGrady with a near triple-double (21 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists). The man is playing on one leg.
• The New York Knicks did not start a point guard.
• The only players on the Knicks that shot under 50% on the night were Sergio Rodriguez and Toney Douglas.
• 4 Knicks scored 20 or more. 0 Pistons scored 20 or more.
• Poor ball movement – 19 assists on 41 field goals made for Detroit.
• Remember New York didn’t start a point guard? They had 33 assists on 47 field goals made.
• Ben Wallace out after injuring his knee against the Celtics. Jason Maxiell started in his place and played 30 minutes, scoring 10 points and securing 8 rebounds.
• Awful game. Just awful.

Photo/Getty Images

• Why is Tayshaun Prince playing 33 minutes in a 20+ point blowout loss and Austin Daye only playing 10 minutes?
• Why is this team as bad as they are? They have 7 road wins. 7. They’ve played 30 road games.
• Al Harrington usually does not play well against us (12.2 ppg career) but he exploded for 26 points on 10-17 shooting with 8 rebounds.
• Thanks again to Natalie for allowing me to write this re-cap. Nothing positive came from watching this game, writing this re-cap or thinking this team has a chance against cellar dweller teams anymore. The Detroit Pistons are a bad team right now.
• The High-Low lights

Video Courtesy of The NBA and The Detroit Pistons

Key Points:

• Though wasn’t that close to the action, I could still here the emphatic Rasheed Wallace scream “Ball Don’t Lie” from my seat at the Palace.

Photo/Getty Images

• Great third quarter, but it all fell apart in the fourth.
• They got as close as three with second left on the clock.
• Detroit’s bench really did a bad job tonight, once again they took a lead and dug a hole.
• I know it’s not my money, but can Ben Gordon give us a refund?  Eight points in 26 minutes with 4 turnovers.  He’s the anti-clutch right now.
• A double-double for Jonas Jerebko, who in my mind was the player of the game for Detroit.  The Birthday boy lead Detroit with 16 points, 10 boards, a steal and an assist in 30 minutes on the floor.  His Swedeness never ceases to amaze.

Photo/Getty Images

• Ben Wallace helped off the floor in the closing minute of the game after  putting up six with a blocked shot and 12 boards.  If Ben goes you can start looking at an unofficial tank.
• Kuester mentioned Ben had a sore knee in the post game presser. I’m sure we will be updated later.
• Richard Hamilton with 16 on 4-for-9 shooting with 7 assists and a steal.   Rip went 7-for-7 for the line after missing clutch free throws the other night.
• Rip to Ben Alley-Oop

Video Courtesy of the Detroit Pistons and The NBA

• Tayshaun Prince, who scored 15 points and looked very good, had a scary moment going down after he rolled an ankle.  The sprain looked pretty bad, but he came back late in the fourth to finish the game.
• 3-for-20 from downtown for Detroit.
• Austin Daye a HUGE spark off the bench.  Daye just kept hitting shots scoring 9 points in 13 minutes with 5 boards.  Give this Kid Charlie Villanueva’s minutes and his sandwiches.
• Will Bynum just isn’t Bynumite as of late, 14 minutes an assists and 4 points.
• A much better 76% from the line for Detroit, who had been shooting in the 50’s from the line on the west coast trip.
• I think Charlie Villanueva should take 3/4 of his salary and deposit it into Jonas Jerebko’s bank account.
• Rodney Stuckey 5-for 15 for 13 points with 6 assists.  This blow-by layup was Stucktacular.

Video Courtesy of the Detroit Pistons and The NBA

• Jason Maxiell still bringing it.
• What do you know, Sheed actually was in the paint for Boston.  Think he’s getting a bonus for that?
• Someone please inform the Pistons that Nate Robinson likes to go off on their team.  Nate off the bench knocking down threes and pushing Boston over the top with 14 points in 15 minutes.
• This block on Nate by Stuck did make the whole Palace get up out of their seats.

Video Courtesy of the Detroit Pistons and The NBA

• I joined Celtics Late Night Show post game to talk about Detroit, Sheed and to make fun of Scalabrine.   Oh how I love poking  fun of Boston fans who sound like they just got tossed from the playoffs after they just won a game against Detroit.   Here is the direct link to the show.
• Another day, another game in New York.
• Thanks to all of you for donating to the Pistons Care Telethon.  If you didn’t get a chance to help feed the hungry in Michigan, you still can.

The 16-31 Pistons are actually in place to start a winning streak with a win tonight in Indiana against the 17-32 Pacers.

Each team has posted just three winning streaks all season – the longest being five games – and the only one each has had since Dec. 12 was a three-game run in mid-January. They’re in a virtual tie for 12th place in the Eastern Conference. Via NBA.com

Injury Report:
Rip Hamilton, who is feeling under the weather, did participate in today’s shoot-around and is a game time decision.

The Scouting Report via Pistons.com

Tip is at 7:00 pm EST and will be televised on Fox Sports Detroit. For the radio broadcast tune in to 97.1 The Ticket or follow the action over at NBA.com.

NEED4SHEED GAME CHAT

The 15-30 Pistons will host the 31-16 Orlando Magic this evening at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Although the Pistons (15-30) and Magic split a pair of matchups in November, Detroit has fallen apart since, dropping 18 of its last 22. The Pistons have dropped four straight entering this contest, including a dreadful performance in a 92-65 home loss to Miami on Friday. They were outrebounded 52-25 and totaled 25 points over the second and third quarters.” Via NBA.com

Injury Report:
Still no updates on the return of Will The Thrill.

Tip is at 6:00 pm EST and will be televised on Fox Sports Detroit. For the radio broadcast tune in to 97.1 The Ticket or follow the action over at NBA.com.

NEED4SHEED GAME CHAT

The 15-28 Pistons will host the 24-19 Grizzles for at the Palace tonight.

I know many of you will be watching Rudy Gay, who’s been rumored to be on the block with the possibility of heading to Detroit.

I will be watching to see how Jonas Jerebko plays after he found out he will be representing Detroit at All Star Weekend in Dallas. The Need4Swede on the Rookie team was almost inevitable.

The Scouting Report via Pistons.com

Injury Report:

Ben Gordon is a game time decision.

Tip is at 7:30 pm EST and will be televised on Fox Sports Plus. For the radio broadcast tune in to WWJ 950 AM or follow the action over at NBA.com.

Don’t forget about the Tickets to Friday night’s game I’m giving away!

NEED4SHEED GAME CHAT