Key Points:

• Detroit started off slow, but dug deep, got back in it and were within one at the half 56-55.
• Monster game from Dwight Howard, who is just plain fun to watch.  Howard put up 33 with 17 boards and 7 blocked shots.  He had almost as many Dunks as the Pistons did last night against Minnesota.
• Did Charlie Villanueva get his minutes taken away?  Three minutes and 16 seconds for CV31.
• Ben Gordon was ejected after he got clocked in the face by Redick.  The refs, who were extra bad last night, of course missed it and when Ben challenged the non call he was tossed.  He finished with 6 points in 21 minutes. He is slowly getting his game back.
• Will Bynum with 5 assist and zero points and an assist.  Was it me, or did Will look extra slow?
• Putback jam from Ben Wallace, who finished with 5 points, 6 boards and a steal.

Video Courtesy of The NBA and The Detroit Pistons

• As always I’m impressed with the hustle of Jonas Jerebko, but when he set a screen and took a football tackle from Matt Barnes (flagrant one) and got up smirking, I appreciated him just a little more. Jonas with 13, 2 steals, a blocked shot and 3 boards in 34 minutes.
• Win or lose, I love it how Detroit always brings it when it comes to the Magic.
• Rodney Stuckey scored 11 points on 4-for-13 shooting with 6 boards and 7 assists. So what if his shot didn’t fall, he was doing whatever he could when he was out there.
• Rip Hamilton with his most impressive game since he was injured. Game high 36 from Rip on 12-for-18 shooting with 3 assists, and 5 boards. It was nice to see everything going right for Rip, while playing the way we are used to seeing him play.

Photo/Getty Images

• Anyone catch how upset George Blaha was with the Refs?  It was hilarious.
• Detroit stepped up their Defense to get back in the game in the second quarter, but lost their way after the half.
• Tayshaun Prince keeps looking better, not perfect, but it will do. Prince scored 13 on 5-for-14 shooting with 8 boards and 3 assists.
• 42% shooting on the night for Detroit and 51% for the Magic.
• Outrebounded by just one 39-40.
• In my book it doesn’t count as a “no look pass” if you turn away an pose dramatically Jason.

• We have until 3PM Thursday to see if the Pistons make a move.

The longest home stand of the year netted the Pistons 5 straight losses as the Pistons fell to Orlando 91-86.

Key Points:

• No Charlie Villanueva, who sat out the entire game with back spasms.
• Jameer Nelson played just the first quarter due to a hyperextended left knee.
• Coach Q listened to all of us and put Jonas Jerebko back in the starting lineup, but without hurting Tayshaun’s feelings.  JJ started in place of Chris Wilcox at PF.
• The Magic were up by as many as 15 in the first half, but the Pistons fought back and were only down by three at the half 48-45.
• Detroit was within one with a minute to play, but Rip and Gordon couldn’t hit their jumpers.  To make things worse, they had a chance to tie (with a three) and Ben Gordon threw the ball away.
• Ben Wallace is now at 1999 career blocks…this was probably one of his best all season.

Video Courtesy of The NBA and The Detroit Pistons

• Ben had a heck of a night, really limiting Dwight Howard with no real help.  Big Ben finished with 4 points, 9 boards, 2 steals and yes…3 blocked shots.
• It’s shocking to say this but this 12 point, 9 board game from Tayshaun Prince may have been his best performance all season.
• Great rebounding game from the Pistons 36-26.
• Pistons biggest lead 7.
• I still dislike JJ Reddick.
• Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons with 18 points on 4-for-10 shooting, while going 10-11 from the line, with 7 assists and 3 boards. Solid game for Stuckey, who seems to be understanding when to dish and when to shoot with each passing game.

Photo/Getty Images

• You need a chance to win, Jonas Jerebko does that for you.  It was his spark that got them back in this game.  Jonas finished with 16 points, and 9 boards in 34 minutes on the floor.  He never has a play run for him, but he’s always making plays.
• I went from SHEED to SWEDE very easily.  It’s all the excitement, without the techs.
• Ben Gordon – I wanted him back, but with how he’s shot the last two games maybe I shouldn’t.  Ben was 2-for-11 on the night for 5 points.
• A quick 6 from Chris Wilcox who played just 8 minutes.
• MORE Austin Daye please!
• Highlight of the great performances by Ben Wallace and Jonas Jerebko.

Video Courtesy of The NBA and The Detroit Pistons

• Never thought I would be saying this “The Best Ben on this team is the Bull that used to have a Fro”. Wallace>Gordon
• This Pistons loss to the Magic means that Stan Van Gundy will coach the East All Stars.
• Jason Maxiell is starting to slowly creep back into my good graces.  Jason scored 8 with 4 boards in 15 minutes.  He’s not the Maxiell I hoped him to be yet, but at least he’s been serviceable.
• Hamilton 14 points on 5-for15 shooting, 4 points and 4 turnovers.
• It really shocks my the way this team plays from game to game.  It’s either mental or lack of effort.
• Sign of the Times – This was Orlando’s second time winning in its last 12 games at the Palace.

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

Key points:

• Though the crowd was sparse at the Palace, the Pistons had the crowd rocking from tip to buzzer.
• 17 minutes from Superman, who finally fouled out on in the fourth on a Bynumite drive.
• 63 combined points from Gordan, Stuckey and Bynum.
• When did white chocolate land in Orlando?
• Jonas Jerebko who became the first Swedish born player to start and NBA took Tayshaun Prince’s spot in the lineup.  Jerebko was 0-for-5 but grabbed 5 boards and was hustling all night long.
• Things got scrappy in the second half when both teams got physical with their fouls.  Could it have started with the Stuckey throw down on Dwight that sent him to the locker room? Possibly, but how can 50 Cent hurt Superman…really.  Hard fouls back and fourth, especially one  from Jameer Nelson on Will Bynum. Even J.J. Reddick got into the mix.
• If your counting that’s 4 straight wins against the Magic.
• It’s getting a little better for Charlie V. Villanueva scored 12 with an assist and grabbed 8 boards.  He’s looking like he’s really getting used to Detroit Basketball.
• First NBA points  for Austin Daye in his 4 minutes on court.
• Prince will be sidelined for at least three games before his status is re-evaluated this weekend.
• I can’t tell you how many times we are going to hear “Rip and Tay or just Tay or just Rip…..should be traded”  just stop now. It’s one game and we are 4 games into the season.
• Great night for Rodney who was one rebound shy of a double-double. Stuck put up 20 points with 9 boards, 3 assists and a steal.

Photo/Getty Images

• Don’t worry about Rodneys’ assists… though the ball movement was ok at times, the Pistons only had 8 total all game.  Will this team have assist issues all season long…probably not.
• Ok, I did read this stat right: Orlando was 10-for-35 from three point land… that’s a ton of threes.  Meanwhile the Pistons were 0-for-6 on the night.
• No play at all for Jason Maxiell, is he in the doghouse with Kuester too?
• By far win or lose and despite the absence of Rip and Tay, this was the best the Pistons have played in a long, long time.  I’m talking current or past lineup.  Hard fought, gritty basketball was the key and Detroit did everything they had to do to pull it out.
• On a night that I thought the bigs would have had to step up, it was the guards who had big nights.  They not only put up big numbers, they got the Magic in foul trouble.
• Ben Gordon was great again, leading the team with 23 points, 5 boards, 3 assists  and a steal.  He’s stepping up and taking doing what he’s got to do when the Pistons need buckets.  And guess what …he makes ‘em. He was 6-for-10 from the floor and 11-for-11 from the line.

Photo/Getty Images

• Eight total points from the Piston Bigs on the night.
• Pistons went to the line 38 times and made 31 to Orlando’s 12-for-16 from the line. Thank the Pistons guards for driving the lane all night long.
• Great play from Ben Wallace again, who scored just 2 but grabbed 10 boards with 2 steals and 2 blocked shots. Best of all he was fired up…just like old times.
• I have to say I really like Dwight Howard, but he’s defiantly one of those players who’s face always looks like he never committed a foul in his life.
• Orlando led 41-38 at the half but the Pistons (finally with a good third quarter) made a game of it the rest of the way.
• I am not kidding you when I tell you the last few minutes of the game was electrifying at the Palace. When it was clear that we were going to pull it out I was simply WOWed.
• Not only did Bynum come back, he drove the lane hard on Dwight, sacrificing his already bruised body (eye) and forced Howard to foul out.  With his 20 points on the night he clearly was the player of the game, especially what he had to do to get it.  His basket in the closing minute was the dagger.

Video Courtesy of The NBA and The Detroit Pistons

• Crazy hand for Will Bynum who came back from a horrible poke in the eye from Gortat. He looked like he wasn’t even going to be able to stand up at first, let alone come back in the game. And looking at the replay when I returned from the game it was worse than on Palace Vision. That’s what I call Superman!
• Oh, and was that a tackle on Will, Jameer?

Photo/Getty Images

• Rebound war won 44-41.
• Great win, things came together and the team gave Pistons fans something to cheer about.
• Thanks go out to my Twitter followers who (in a matter of seconds) let me know why Tayshaun didn’t start last night and what exactly happened to Will Bynum when he went down.  Love going to the games, but when you have no idea what Blaha and Kelser are saying it can be frustrating.  I know you have my back, so thanks.
• Highlights from the game

The 1-2 Pistons look to put an end to their two game slide with a win of the 2-0 Magic tonight in Auburn Hills.  They have three important things going against them tonight.

• No Rip
• Dwight Howard
• and Sheed (Dwight Stopper) is balling for Bean Town.

“The Pistons probably will be without Hamilton the next two games — definitely tonight’s home contest against the Magic and likely Wednesday’s game at Toronto.

Hamilton hurt his ankle with 5 minutes left in the season opener at Memphis on Wednesday. An initial X-ray proved negative. The Pistons took another X-ray as a precaution when he returned to Detroit, and it also was negative. Still, there was significant swelling and bruising, and Hamilton was placed in a walking boot because he could hardly put any pressure on the ankle. ”

“Howard is going to get his, so you just got to keep throwing bodies at him,” Pistons center Kwame Brown said. “You just keep having enough big buys to throw at him and foul him in certain situations and send him to the free-throw line.”

Via The Detroit Free Press

The Magic be without Vince Carter (ankle) and Mickael Pietrus (flu-like illness) as well as Rashard Lewis (suspension)

Tip off is at 7:30 at the palace and will locally broadcast on Fox Sports and while your watch use the NBA’s TV Companion. If you can’t watch the game on television, tune into my buddy Matt Dery on the radio at 950 AM WWJ. Can’t do either follow live over at NBA.com.

1. Suicidal Thoughts – Notorious B.I.G.
2. Bad Day- Daniel Powter
3. Life’s a Bitch – NaS
4. Say Goodbye – Chris Brown
5. All Falls Down – Kanye West
6. Heartbreaker – Led Zeppelin
7. Dazen and Confused – Led Zeppelin
8. Karma Police – Radiohead
9. You Shook Me – Led Zeppelin
10. I’m On A Boat – The Lonely Island-Feat T-Pain
11. Say Goodbye Hollywood – Eminem
12. Same Song and Dance – Eminem
13. Walk and Don’t Look Back – Peter Tosh
14. Cry Baby – Janis Joplin
15. Dead and Gone – TI
16. Move Along – All American Rejects
17. Boulevard of Broken Dreams – Green Day
18. Come Sail Away – Styx
19. New York City Boy – Pet Shop Boys
20. Dancing Queen – ABBA
21. King of Pain – The Police
22. American Idiot – Green Day
23. Human – Human League
24. Big Girls don’t cry – Fergie
25. Black Superman – Above the Law
26. Selfish – Slum Village
27. Bittersweet – Kanye West
28. Its over – GhostFace Killah
29. Losing My Mind – The Black Crowes
30. Misunderstood – Common
31. Someone Saved My Life Tonight – Elton John
32. Waitin’ For A Superman – Iron and Wine
33. Cinders And Smoke – Iron and Wine
34. Ordinary People – John Legend
35. When The Levee Breaks – Led Zeppelin
36. A Conspiracy – The Black Crowes
37. Stop Crying Your Heart Out – Oasis
38. Knives Out – Radiohead
39. Don’t Panic – Coldplay
40. Bullet Proof … I Wish I Was – Radiohead
41. Climbing up The Walls – Radiohead
42. Don’t Cry – Seal
43. Lost My Faith – Seal

What’s on his iPod right now??? Looks like Don’t Cry by Seal!

Thanks to all of you for the suggestions for LeBron, I had a blast adding mine (most of which are at the bottom of the list). Feel free to keep them coming. And in case you were wondering…this really got to Cavs fans.

Photo/Getty Images

1. King Nothing – Metallica
2. King Without a Crown – Matisyahu
3. Kryptonite – 3 Doors Down
4. Heartbreak Hotel – Elvis Presley
5. New York, New York – Frank Sinatra
6. The Takeover- Jay-Z
7. Sucks to be You – Prozzac
8. Lose Yourself – Eminem
9. Loser – Beck
10. Cruel Summer – Bananarama
11. A New York State of Mind – Billy Joel
12. Help! – The Beatles
13. Close But No Cigar – Thomas Dolby
14. Alone Again (Naturally) – Gilbert O’Sullivan
15. I’m Going Slightly Mad – Queen
16. You Got Another Thing Coming – Judas Priest

I blew up the picture so we could clearly see his iPod and from the looks of it on track 3.

Good job El Patron!

If know of any additions to LeBrons playlist, by all means leave them in the comments and if you didn’t get a chance to read this little piece on the “King”, by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports….I suggest you do so.

• To start off my weekend I ran into Steve Yzerman at Starbucks, and can you believe the place was packed and nobody but myself realized it was him? Besides my stalking charge it made for a beginning of a great few days, especially after two Wings wins!
• Thank you Dwight for not only being a joy to watch, but taking down those awful Cavaliers.  Seeing the Magic stun the World and send the Cavs fishing was just the medicine that this Piston fan needed.
• LeBron….a spoiled sport taking after those Bad Boys . I noticed him bolt off court right after the buzzer sounded and thought the same thing. “It’s hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lose to them,” James said. (Hat Tip Matt Watson)
• Pistons are the front runners for Carlos Boozer? “Apparently, rising free agent-of-choice Carlos Boozer is telling confidants he’s either going to Detroit or New Jersey — only way the capsized Nets pull that off is by doing a sign-and-trade. Word has it Jersey will have but three assistants next season and all must take pay cuts.” The New York Post (it is coming from Peter Vecesy so take it as strictly RUMOR)
• If the Pistons actually pick up Boozer, can Arnie keep him in uniform all season long?
• Sorry Chauncey.
• Ben Wallace to Retire?
• Walter Herrmann might return to Spain?
• Great Pre-Draft roundup from Dave Dial over at MLive.

• A beautiful day in Michigan, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and Orlando took down Cleveland at home.
• Terrance Williams works out with Detroit and Matt Watson of Detroit Bad Boys interviews the possible Piston.
• Our good friend Matt Dery of WXYT is reporting that the Pistons are working out Gonzaga’s Jeremy Pargo.
• How many Mock Drafts can you really read? SI thinks Detroit will use their #15 pick to snatch Ohio State Center B.J. Mullens. All for a big man, but is Mullens proven after just one year in college?
• Possibly a PG with the pick?
• I wouldn’t mind TY Lawson.
• Will Rodney Stuckey have a breakout season?
• I’m so close it hurts.
• I need Pistons fans help with this one! I got an email from an Old Schooler like myself who needed a hand with some Bad Boys Pistons trivia. “There is a song from back in the day when the bad boys won the 89-90.  It is not One Mission, but it was a Rap song that had Laimbeer, Thomas, Mahorn’s name in it.” Now I remember the song vaguely but for the life of me I couldn’t tell you who did it or what the name of it was. Here is where you guys help us out if you can.  It’s going to bother me until we get the answer!
• Don’t forget about the Kimmel Show Friday night…someone has to win the limited edition EMINEM shirt.
• FYI, I added a feature in the comment section of the site. You can now directly reply to a specific comment in the section and it will appear right below it.
• Great YouTube Tribute to Daddy Rich.

The Pistons host the 32-46 New Jersey Nets at The Palace tonight. The Pistons look to take tonight’s game to secure a playoff spot and tie the season series up 2 games all. The Nets, who took it to the Pistons in their last meeting, were eliminated from the playoffs this season when Detroit beat the Knicks Wednesday night in New York.

The Pistons need to stop Devin Harris who has burned them in every meeting they had with the Nets this season.

“He’s an All-Star this year,” Pistons second-year guard Rodney Stuckey said. “He’s improving every year. He’s just a great player. He’s crafty, fast; he’s good, man. Really good.” Via The Detroit Free Press

With four games left, Detroit is in a battle with The Bulls for the 7th seed in the playoffs. With the Bulls win over the Sixers Thursday night they moved ahead of Detroit (by a half of a game) for the 7th spot. The race may just come down to the Bulls – Pistons game at the Palace Monday night.

It’s the home stretch – Get pumped Pistons Fans, Sheed is.

The Good/Bad and More

• Stopping Devin.
• The Pistons haven’t lost the season series with the Nets since dropping three of four meetings in 1993-94.
• It’s refreshing to see that Will Bynum is working every day at being a better NBA point guard.
• More Will at Empty the Bench.
• Even more Will Bynum at Wages of Wins Journal.
• New Detroit Sports blog Motor City Sports and new Pistons blog Motown String Music.
• At this point it doesn’t look like Detroit can sneak into the sixth spot and don’t count on Orlando move up. I don’t think anyone wants to face Detroit in the first round, especially Orlando. It seems as though the Pistons are the Magic’s #1 nemesis.

Tip is at 8:00 PM at the Palace and will be broadcast on FSN. If you can’t watch the telecast you can listen live locally on WDFN 1130 AM, or follow the game through your computer at NBA.com.