The Pistons beat the New Orleans Hornets 89-87 Saturday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills despite losing Brandon Knight within the first five minutes of the game. Knight, who only the night before put up a career high 26 points, went to the locker room after  an elbow under the basket from former Piston DaJuan Summers.  Knight suffered a broken nose and didn’t return, but  should be ready with his mask for the Pistons Tuesday practice.

Key Points:

• Jason Maxiell all about the hustle again.  Maxiell in another start, finished the game with 10 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot. No shot was more important on the night than Jason’s putback jam on a Greg Monroe miss late in the game to help the Pistons lock in the victory. As much ups and downs as Jason has had he’s shown a lot these last few games and I have always called him the Putback King.

Photo/Getty Images editing Need4Sheed.com

• This Maxiell dunk brought the house down. Via NBA.com

Lawrence Frank “Jason Maxiell embodied what the effort was all about, his tenacity, his effort, his toughness – I don’t know what (Monroe) finished with (in) offensive rebounds. I guess he had six. I would bet that three of them were the result of Max keeping balls alive and then to get that big dunk – momentum play. Max brings a toughness, an intensity, a tenacity about him. He played with an edge.”

• The Hornets Trevor Ariza couldn’t miss Saturday night leading all scorers with 26 on 9-for-12 shooting.
• Jonas Jerebko was headbutted by Jason Smith and it looked almost intentional, that may have been the reason why Jonas put his arm out in retaliation after  he got hit.  Smith went crashing to the floor on his own.  And depending on the replay you saw, Jonas’s arm didn’t touch him.
• Hustle all night from Jonas, who was 5-for-10 for 11 points, with 5 boards in just 18 minutes on the floor.
• Austin Day just1-for-5 for 4 points and 3 boards in 19 plus minutes on the floor.
• Add another check mark to Greg Monroe’s double-double tally as Moose poured in 24 points with 16 boards, 2 assists and a steal. Did you envision this much progress in Greg’s game this season?

Photo/Ap editing Need4Sheed.com

• Yes this stat is correct…54 points in the paint for Detroit.
• Thirteen turnover on the night for Detroit, five of them came from Monroe.
• This one went back and forth.  The Pistons trailed by three at the half took the first double-digit lead either way by going on an 8-0 run early in the fourth.

Greg Monroe: “You know Brandon’s a big part of what we do, but Walker D. (Russell) and Rodney (Stuckey) moving back to the point more, definitely stepped up tonight and everybody else that got into the game. Everybody stepped up tonight. It was a tough night, but everybody had a crazy amount of energy for the schedule that we just went through and I have to applaud my teammates, they did a great job tonight.”

• Solid night for Rodney Stuckey, who really stepped up his game as soon as Brandon went to the locker room.  Rodney took it to the hole all night finishing with 17 points on 5-for-13 shooting with 3 assists, as steal and just one turnover.
• Walker Russell showed just how important he can be for this Pistons team.  Russell with 4 assists, 9 points and 2 steals in 32 minutes.  Have they started selling his jerseys at the Palace yet?

Walker Russell on n Brandon Knight going out and him stepping in: “Usually I’m the guy that was always playing, but I’ve been playing more and more lately, so when coach called my number, he had the confidence in me and I had the confidence to step up and play.”

• What you can see in the last two Pistons performances is that they still have issues holding on to a lead, but they are learning.
• Highlights, including Brandon’s injury via NBA.com

• The Pistons can sure use their extended vacation, they next play on Wednesday in New Jersey.