The Pistons handed the Orlando Magic their first loss of the season Tuesday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Not only where the Pistons without Richard Hamilton again, Tayshaun Prince finally missed a game after starting 496 straight. Great guard play all around for Detroit led by the gutsy play off Will Bynum after he returned from a poke in the eye from Marcin Gortat and made some key plays down the stretch to lead Detroit to a 80-85 victory.
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.
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- 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.
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- 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?
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- 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
Lastly…I had an unbelievable once in a lifetime experience (for me). Something I have been waiting to happen for about 23 years. If you 
