The Pistons finally won a game on Sunday as they squeaked out a W against a severely depleted Los Angeles Clippers team at The Staples Center. It took an Allen Iverson fingerroll goaltending call with 2.8 seconds left on the clock to seal the 88-87 victory for Detroit.

Key Points:

• Detroit is on its largest win streak of the season at 7, currently the longest active streak in the NBA.
• The Clippers haven’t beaten Detroit since Nov. 3, 2002 at Los Angeles.
• Allen Iverson put up a double-double with 18 points and 10 assists. He was having a hard time hitting all game long going just 7-for-22 but it was his clutch jumpshot with 1:20 and his fingeroll with 2.8 seconds left that won the game for Detroit.
• Like the trade or not, AI has been the Pistons “Big Shot” of late.

Photo/Getty Images

• Another game without Rip and Sheed but McDyess stepped up even when he was hurting. It doesn’t compare to a Clippers team that was without Baron Davis, Zach Randolph, Ricky Davis (suspension), Taylor, Hart and Fred Jones who was hurt after the first two minutes of the game.
• Dyess, unsung hero with 15 boards, a steal and 6 points. The man has heart.
• Rookie Eric Gordon played a heck of a game for the Clippers with a career high 31 points in 44 minutes. They trusted him enough to take the possible game winner when LA had just 0.4 on the clock. Interesting note, the Clippers are so high on the rookie that they assign him the opposing team’s best player to defend. That player wasn’t AI for Detroit….Gordon was assigned Rodney Stuckey.
• The Pistons finally won the war of the boards 47-40. Half of the Clippers boards were courtesy of Marcus Camby (20).
• Tayshaun had another big game with 20 points, 7 boards, 2 assists and 3 blocked shots. He had some key baskets late in the game to help the Pistons win the game. But nothing was better than the play of the game.

Video Courtesy of The NBA, The Detroit Pistons and FSN Detroit

• This game was close, it was tied 28 times with 42 lead changes.
• Aaron Afflalo wasn’t feeling well but still managed to put up 10 points against his hometown crowd.
• Just what we need from Kwame Brown, 11 boards in 18 minutes and 2 points.
• To all the Pistons fans in the house, we could hear you loud and clear. The Pistons have a huge fan base in California so I’m glad they have taken both games in LA for our Pistons fans on the left coast.
• “Detroit scored eight straight points to take a 78-70 lead with 7:04 to play. The Clippers tied it at 80 with two free throws and a short jumper by Gordon that capped a 10-2 spurt with 2:56 remaining. But the Prince spun around Mardy Collins for a dunk and Iverson hit a 20-footer from the key 32 seconds later, giving Detroit an 86-82 edge with 1:20 left.” Via NBA.com

Video Courtesy of The NBA, The Detroit Pistons and FSN Detroit

• FSN Highlights of the game complete with the Tayshuan Dunks and AI’s clutch plays.
• Can we finally put to rest the argument about Amir Johnson? I, along with plenty of you, have been criticized for being on his bandwagon. Hasn’t he proved his value to this team by now? He’s out there changing games with everything he does on the court. He may not always fill up the stat sheet, but his contributions can’t be denied.
• Amir unfortunately got into a bit of foul trouble and ultimately fouled out of the game. His 6 boards, 4 points, blocked shot and a steal in 23 minutes didn’t tell the whole story when he was on the floor. Did you see his putback jam that had the crowd breathless? It’s ok to watch it more than once.
• If you haven’t jumped on the Stuckey bandwagon yet think about this… Detroit is 13-3 since inserting Stuckey into the starting lineup.
• Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons with 24 on 10-for-24 shooting with 6 assists and 2 steals. He’s playing out of his mind just when Detroit needs him most. I know that Pistons fans have been watching him, but he’s getting noticed by the whole league. He’s being picked up in all the fantasy leagues and he’s the chatter all over the internet. They are even talking about him down under.

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• Rodney Stuckey Highlights.
• The Pistons held the Clippers to 12 third quarter points.
• 40 points in the paint for the Clippers and the Pistons.
• Just 16 minutes for Maxiell who scored 4 with a blocked shot and a rebound.
• Herrmann just isn’t hitting his shots when he gets on the floor and Curry is pulling him quickly. He was 0-for-2 in six minutes.
• The Pistons shot just 39% on the night.
• It’s starting to click.
• Wallace should be ready to play Wednesday in Portland. The Pistons are being more cautious with Hamilton. Hamilton hasn’t tried to sprint or make a hard cut yet. Via The Detroit News
• Dana Guarudner of the Oakland Press is also jumping on the Rip to the Bench Bandwagon.
• Aaron Larson Need4Sheed reader who was at the game in LA had a little tidbit for us. “I watched Sheed during a timeout take a piece of gum off the scorers table, roll up the wrapper and place it in an assistant coaches suit breast pocket secretly…he noticed it, grabbed it and placed it in his EAR…AND LEFT IT THERE ALL GAME. LOL always a joker that Rasheed!”

Aaron and Joe!

Count That Baby and A Foul, Aaron and Mr. Blaha


• Justin Shaw was there too, and he had some pretty sweet seats. “Good to see our bench players pull off a win on the road / Here are some pics from the game, 2 of them are the refs talking to the kids whose drinks Iverson slipped on and hurt his side when he landed on a water bottle / The fans were pretty cool, better than Laker fans for sure cause they know about being a fan for a a team that has struggled / If you watch the video you can see the backs of me and my friend jumping up when Prince takes that one to the rack for the dunk”




• As always I welcome comments, but I would especially love to hear from those of you that attended the game.
• For those of you who downloaded my January Game Schedule Wallpaper the 1st day I had it up, I neglected to put the game against the Hornets on the 17th on. I have since fixed it so check your wallpaper and download again if needed. Sorry about that.

For the first time in what seems like forever Detroit, took control of a game from the tip and kept it. The Pistons ran off to a quick start and controlled the tempo in their 106 – 95 victory over the Lakers from the tip. The Lakers took the lead just once during the game and made the game a little tight at the finish but the game was all Detroit.

Key Points:

• Kwame Brown played through the boos and put up his best game as a Piston. Kwame put up a double-double with 10 points, 10 boards, a blocked shot and a steal in 28 minutes on the floor. Not huge numbers but all his numbers really came when it counted.
• “It was better to get booed this way … I was excited to play all day. I was antsy. I couldn’t sleep. It was just real good to get a win against a team that traded you.” Kwame Brown via The Detroit News
• Kobe put up 29 (took him 30 shots to do it) very quiet points, most of which came late when he was trying to get his team back into the game singlehandedly. He did have a couple of huge highlight dunks.
• Arron Afflalo once again stepped up and played well, this time in front of his hometown crowd. Arron scored 7 and played a key role on defense. He knocked down a three at the end of the third that took the life out of the crowd.
• Sheedtastic is an understatement for the game Mr. Wallace put up against The Lakers. Another double-double with 25 points and 13 boards while blocking 2 shots on the night. He’s playing better with Kwame at center, no doubt about it. He even seems to be into the games more, throwing down convincing dunks and jawing it up on court.

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• And how about his off glass three with the shot clock running out. He couldn’t stop laughing when it went down.
• Too many points in the paint for the Lakers. Detroit let them inside for 52 while scoring 30 themselves.
• Detroit started the game knocking down just about everything. They finished the night shooting 50.7% from the floor.
• The Pistons led by as much as 20.
• NBA.com Highlights of the Game.
• Another solid night for Tayshaun Prince. Tay scored 18 with 6 assists and 4 boards in front of his mother who was interviewed during the game. If this isn’t an in-your-face highlight I don’t know what is.

Video Courtesy of The NBA, The Detroit Pistons and FSN

• “But our bigs were the players of the game. Because they were able to play Gasol and Bynum straight up, that allowed Arron Afflalo, myself and Allen (Iverson) to play their perimeter guys straight up. We didn’t have to leave our guys to double down or help.” Tayshaun Prince via The Detroit News
• Iverson’s play of the game was quite nice.
• DNP for Amir Johnson, I believe some of that had to do with the way Kwame was playing and how big Gasol and Bynum are out there on the court. I know plenty of LA fans that are disappointed they didn’t get to see anything Amrizing.
• Pistons were outrebounded 42-43.
• Richard Hamilton is still struggling, 12 points on 3 for 10 shooting. It will come.
• Are you voting for your Pistons yet? And don’t forget Dyess….he’s coming home, isn’t he?
• Impressive game, it was nice to see domination from the tip and to get it in a game you’re playing against the unbeaten Lakers makes it that much better.
• Maxiell showed us a thing or two.

• Stuckey put in 17 minutes and scored 5 points. It’s nice to see him back on the court.
• How nice is it to have a few guys on the team that can break down the defense and penetrate the lane?
• No will Bynum, but they did a nice piece on him at the half. I will get it up for you soon.
• It’s still a bit weird to see Iverson on the court for Detroit, but with the way he’s playing I’m getting used to it quickly.
• AI, along with Sheed, put up 25 points for Detroit. He’s also getting used to where his teammates are on court. His turnovers are going down, but unfortunately the team’s aren’t. 18 turns for Detroit on the night.

Photo/Getty

• Pistons finish of this trip tomorrow (Sunday) in Phoenix.
• Do you want to win the Bobble Head I’m giving away? All you have to do is join The Fans of Need4Sheed group at Postin Up.