Chauncey Billups was just 1-9 until he caught fire in the fourth quarter to help propel The Pistons past The Cavs 87-71. Chauncey hit three jumpers, two of them 3-pointers in the first minutes of the fourth as the Pistons went on a 14-3 run to open a 71-58 lead in the fourth quarter.
The score was close, and it looked like it was going to go down to the wire, but The Pistons defense and their hot shooting helped pull them away in the fourth quarter.
The Pistons defense forced The Cavs into shooting a horrible 18% in the third quarter and 34% for the night. Collectively the Pistons did a nice job shutting LeBron down, especially in the second half. But he still led the Cavaliers with 26 points, going 9-20 from the floor.
Key Points
- Rasheed returned with 9 points, 6 rebounds in 25 minutes.
- Tayshaun Reggie Millered The Cavs Daniel Gibson.
- Will Blalock played 10 minutes and did a fine job backing up Chauncey.
- Carlos Delfino played great D against LeBron.
- LeBron is immune from Techs, I can’t remember how many times I saw him complain about an AND-1. For some people that results in a T.
- The Cavs fans booed Sheed every time he touched the ball.
- The Cavs fand booed their own team in the fourth quarter when it was clear they were going to lose.
- I have been to, and have seen hundreds of Pistons games. I have never witnessed Pistons fan boo their own team. Not even in the teal days, and that’s saying something.
- I like Kenny, Charles and Ernie Johnson. I will take TNT over ESPN any day.
- Steve Kerr and Marv Alpert were gushing over Mad Max, even more so after this happened.
- Surprisingly they interviewed Maxiell right at halftime. They told him of the comparisons he was getting to Charles Barkley. Good for him.
- “They are still a Powerhouse” said LeBron James after the game.
- I still want to unload my nephews paint ball gun at Anderson Varejao. I might just use this as target practice.
- McDyess had his breakout game of the season, a double-double, 11 points and 11 rebounds. Although his season high is just 11 he looked like the Dyess of old, which is a good sign.
- What’s the deal with the patch of hair on the back of Drew Gooden’s head? Did Stevie Wonder give him a haircut?
- Tayshaun had his best game in while, going 8-11 with 16 points 8 rebounds, 3 assists and that Reggie Miller block.
- Mr. Mohammed had a solid game.
- Ilgauskas looks like he joined The Club over the summer.
- Flip Murray played just 9 minutes and was 0-3.
- Rip had an off shooting night going 4-10 in just 29 minutes.
- Flip Saunders is using the bench well. For now at least.
- Big Z is soft.
- The Shins new single, Phantom Limb is really good. I have been listening to it on replay as I write this.
- Super Dupe got some playing time.
- Maxiell scored 11 points in 16 minutes.
- Kid Rock was in the house.
- The Cavs had just 9 turnovers, The Pistons had 10.
- I was pleasantly surprised when The Pistons shots started dropping in the fourth quarter.
- What happened to Webster, he barely played and when he did he was nonexistent.
- Scott Pollard has nothing better to do than get a mowhawk.
- The Pistons are now a game and a half in front of Chicago for 1st place in the Central division.
- It was nice to have breathing room at the end of the game.
- I laughed when someone left me a comment after the game that read “SPANK YOU VERY MUCH!”
- GO Pistons!
Awesome win! B-B-B-Billups was amazing down the stretch. Maxiell is looking better every game. He may be a starter by season’s end….
-Nate
I would have to say no to Maxiell being a starter but I would like to see Dyess and Murray traded before the seasons end for another good backup center and possibly another backup PG. Maxiell is capable of comming off the bench and backing up Sheed. Davis is a beast…somebody SHOCK! that man.I like Dyess but he bulked up over the summer and I think he realizes he;s over his prime and just trying to keep up now.
I have to say when I was watching this game I thought it was a really slow game until the fourth when Chancey started to hit his shoot. If you look into his eyes during a game you can see when they are her to win or lose. HE has a look like you are not going to beat us we have this game. I ntice this a lot last year its the same when they are going to lose he has a look that it is as if he knows they are going to winor lose.
Anyway I was very surprise when they started talking aboiut MAx and going on and on about him before he had even hit anything. It was good to see him get reconized. I really think he is out ben on the floor not the same type of pleyers but he gives us what we are missing out there since Ben left. He is a great player and I think he will be starting this season if not forsure next. He is a starter type of player. I think he will be the type of player who can start and still do fine it will not hurt his game. As well to get to be interview during half time that is telling you something not only are we as pistons fans seeing how good he has become but so is everyone else. I am very happy for him.
Also I think tayshuan player a great game and I hope this means hes got his shot back. Is it just me or is it that one pistons has a poor shooting night at times. It looks like rip is starting to have a poor one now that Tays back.
WOW, they really came alive in the 4th Quarter and just ran that whole Cavalier team over.
It’s great to see Dice get into game groove again and J-Max is filling the niche left by Big Ben nicely. LeBron is a bitchin’ pussy!
Here’s a nice tidbit about how sucky the NY Knicks are. Yankee prospect, Kei Igawa is currently in NYC to undergo a physical and meet the Management. When asked how he will spend his time. Igawa answered that he will see the Christmas sites in NYC and then go down to Madison Square Garden to catch Ben Wallace when he comes to town…….
Regarding the Cleveland Fans booing comment…can’t say they staged any walkouts though…because that is a true sign of a fan.
Did anybody else see tay’s block on gibson before gibson even crossed the free throw line? Gibson hit the free throw line…tay was a little behind the top of the key…and i jumped up and yelled a good 2 or 3 seconds before the shot was even blocked. It’s an incredibly difficult play for tay, or anybody in the league, to make…but i just expect it out of him now. He really is something special to watch.
That would have been funny if Reggie was doing that game…anyway, Verajao is an ass. I want to add another new rule, flopping. Talk about upstaging the refs–by flopping Verejao just puts the ref in a situation to make them look stupid. Speaking of Reggie, his flop almost cost the Pistons the title a couple years ago and Ginobli’s flopping was uncontrollable in the finals, still is. I think a flop deserves a tech when it’s as blatant as it was yesterday–at least a personal. At least they didn’t fall for it when V tried to draw a charge on Chauncey–C. was not happy even though he drained the 3.
It was great to see Max get some attention. You also have to love that he almost did that dunk on cue.
I also would love to inflict some kind of punishment on the mop head.
And yes that Shins song is awesome. You have good taste.
Chauncey really did well when they needed to step up. they were up by 2 and suddenly it became like a 14 point lead! MAxiell did awesome, so did dyess and that was a good clising game!!
Fuck yeah Phantom Limb
Life is good when you come to read about the Pistons and you get a Shins reference.
great win. great billups. great games by dyess and tay too, to balance out rip’s off shooting, and again max and davis are BEASTS. when sheed is fully healthy it will be interesting to see where the minutes go between nazr, max, dyess and dale …
flip murray once again looked bad, delfino however finally looked pretty solid. blalock is okay but not more than providing rest for chauncey. i notice that when blalock is out there with rip or tay, they take the ball upcourt and dont let him. he has to earn his respect i guess. i think this game, especially the 4th, made a statement that we are easily the best team in the east right now. too bad that’s not saying much, and if we played the suns right now in the finals i think we might get swept.
BRING ON BONZI WELLS!!
You have to be a fan of a city that hasn’t won SHIT in 42 years to understand booing your own team. Especially a team in particular that has never, ever even REACHED the NBA Finals.
During your “teal” years, you were less than a decade removed from winning back-2-back titles with the Bad Boys. How could you possibly boo? Plus you had the Red Wings winning Stanley Cups. You had winners past and present. Fucking Cleveland? Nothing. The Browns might as well move again, the Indians couldn’t re-sign their own free agents like Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome, and the Cavs…the Cavs are our last hope. If LeBron can’t deliver, nobody will. Cleveland might as well sink into Lake Erie.
So, you want to ask any more questions about why we booed the hell out of this underachieving, passive, nonchalant team on Thursday night???