It came together last night for Detroit in San Antonio. It took almost the whole game to do it, but it finally did. On the heels of some great play by the bench, Allen Iverson’s shot falling and a Rasheed technical that fired him up to 17 second half points, Detroit took down the Spurs 89-77.
Key Points:
- Detroit started a bit flat footed but this time they didn’t let Spurs jump ahead to a big lead. The Spurs never lead by more than 10 points the whole night.
- Surprisingly Matt Bonner...yes Matt Bonner was holding his own against Rasheed Wallace. It wasn’t until Sheed had enough of him in the second half and started to dominate.
- Yes the Pistons won, but regardless of the final score it was a Pistons team that was fun to watch. It was the kind of effort we all hope continues.
- Five Pistons in double figures.
- Tayshaun Prince put up a double-double with 12 boards, 17 points, 5 assists and a blocked shot in 41 minutes on the floor. I think he made a point to Coach Curry last night. Are you voting for Mr. Prince for the All Star team yet?
- Maxiell always knows where to be, in fact he seems like he’s everywhere. Two handed throw down….no problem.
Video Courtesy of The NBA, The Detroit Pistons and FSN
- Richard Hamilton was 7-for-11 on the night for 16 points. Let’s hope this is a sign of things to come. I still believe he has a higher rate of success with Tay or Stuckey feeding him the ball.
- Unsung Hero – Arron Afflalo who locked down Tony Parker and Manu in the fourth when Rip was on the bench in foul trouble. Call Arron’s name and he delivers.
- Kwame Brown may not have scored a point but he was holding his own on the defensive end. Eight boards in 20 minutes.
- Amir, 4 points in 13 minutes with a seal and a blocked shot. Limited time because of the Spurs big men.
- Duncan went for 23 but Detroit didn’t let Parker explode after he got off to a hot start.
Detroit shot 50% on the night to 39% for the Spurs. - Allen Iverson was big in the fourth quarter. Nineteen points on 8-for-17 shooting in 41 minutes with 6 assists and 4 steals. Picking up the D was a big help, but nothing was prettier than the wrap around reverse layup in the fourth quarter when Detroit was pulling away. Allen Iverson highlights.
Photo/Getty Images
- Detroit 38 points in the paint to just 20 for the Spurs.
- How do you like the fact that this speedy lineup, yes speedy had 18 fast break points.
- Once again the bench brought us back. And the starters plus Stuckey finished in the fourth quarter.
- The clincher, Detroit scored 28 points in the fourth quarter and limited the Spurs to just 14.
- Blaha was in rare form in the fourth quarter when Detroit was putting the game away. In fact so was I when Sheed was going off. I am pretty sure my dog things her name is SHEEEEED from screaming it out so many times last night during the second half.
- This Maxiell dunk may have more to do with the Rodney Stuckey feed, but pretty none the less.
Video Courtesy of The NBA, The Detroit Pistons and FSN
- Stuckey played 30 minutes, scored 10, has 7 assists and 2 steals. Oh and the play of the Game.
- Don’t mess around anymore fellas we love games like this. This is the team we love to love. “It’s just us knowing we have to play hard like that every night,” Rasheed Wallace said. “Some nights we’re out there (messing around) and some nights we bring it. We just got to keep it on a consistent level.” Via Detroit News.
- Sheed should be able to get a break when Dyess gets back. From what I’m told the Pistons can’t negotiate with Dyess until the 7th so for all of you (me) who want to be at the Palace for his return, it looks like it will be Friday the 12.
- Detroit out rebounded by 1, 32 to 31. But they did a good job limiting the Spurs to just about one shot per possession.
- Sheed was HUGE in the fourth quarter, he along with Iverson put up 19 points for the night. But Sheed’s three’s late in the game where huge. His domination started late in the third quarter and didn’t stop until the buzzer sounded. The three – three pointers were more than SHEEDtastic.
- POW
Video Courtesy of The NBA, The Detroit Pistons and FSN
- The SHEED takeover!
- “I knew what it was going to be out there and I didn’t want our team to fall into that,” Wallace said, referring to what he felt was one-sided officiating. “We knew what it was. Bottom line, we already knew how it was going to be, especially playing one of the league darlings. So we knew how it was. “But we should have played hard like that right from the gate. If we did, we wouldn’t have been in that deficit.” via The Detroit News
- This game stands beside the Laker win as one of the best games Detroit has played this season.
- Amir a Spur? “When (the Spurs) gave me the offer, I was thinking about going there,” Johnson said. “But I wanted to stick with the team that I had been with for years, so I stuck with Detroit.” Even though he no longer is a starter, Johnson said he has no regrets about his decision. “They’re kind of the same team, like Detroit,” Johnson said. “But I’m happy where I’m at. I’m glad I stuck with the team that was developing me.” Via MLive
- Bill Davidson, is in the Top 10.
- This is the way it should be, we are spoiled aren’t we?
What’s the deal with Allen Iverson always looking so sad and lost? Is he not fitting in with the team? He just looks miserable out there and on the bench. Nat, do you have any insight?
Elainefan….I wish I knew and yes he does always look miserable doesn’t he. Maybe winning will change that.
Elainefan, I have noticed that as well. Last night, when a pass went awry, he seemed to go off on Amir alittle bit. Just my opinion but I wonder if A.I. is
sorry, posted my comment too soon.
…worried about his contribution to the team. His numbers are down and it seems as though Curry is using Stuckey to get Rip the ball when he needs it. A.I. cares about the game and he hates to lose.
Great game! Pistons defense was there. Stuckey just gets better and better. I loved what Afflalo did out there.
AI was upset at himself last night for that pass that was supposed to go to Amir. He was pissed because he knew it was an easy 2 points.
I think we’ve all been a bit pissed and miserable as of late. Last night, however, was a nice respite.
i had a glimpse at brilliance from Joe D. Bringing Iverson to Detroit goes deeper than the stat sheet and salary relief. On one hand, it takes focus away from a rookie coach, but on the other hand it forces curry to be accountable. Interesting…
you are a wise, wise man Joe. Wise indeed.
I know this is off the subject but Chauncey is having a career year so far in Denver, I wonder why we couldnt get that kind of production out of him these past couple of years.
Denver don’t play much defense. So it’s easy for their opponents to relax as well. I don’t care how good you are offensively, if you get 130+ points, the other team must suck at defense.
But, I’m glad to see Chauncey doing well.
I really don’t like us starting Kwame. He’s a joke offensively. He’s a ok one on one defender, but he has no brain when it comes to team defense. He’s the ONLY reason I think we have a chance to be special this year. –> Coz we gonna get Dyess back soon. From Kwame to Dyess must be a huge difference!!!
Deandre…Chauncey is playing right in line with how he’s played the last couple years. One thing you need to factor is that Denver plays at a much faster pace then Detroit teams of the past, so his counting stats are a little skewed.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/stats?playerId=63
this is just one game. it is yet to be seen that detroit will keep this defense intensity more than just one game.
Natalie, I want to hear McDyecious from you this year, starting on the 12th (provided he has a McDyecious game.)
there is plenty of time left in the season anything can happen now…sure i know the pistons are doing horrible( or just not how we expect)but hopefully things will click and everything will be okay.
Arron Afflalo the next Bruce Bowen? Don’t know yet but he has a lot of the attributes. Kwame good job on D, but do some dribbling drills or some hand exercises so you don’t lose the ball so much. Tay nearly lost the momentum for us at the beginning of the forth when he started jacking up crazy shots trying to pad his stats.
Unfortunately it looks like sheed will be getting his fair share of suspensions, and with Dyess coming back they need as many games with AI as they can, but if Sheed plays that kind of D after every tech, I’ll be smiling, especially when Dyess is here to pick up the slack and dominate which will be McDyecious.
If they can just learn to put 48 minutes together, they could have another championship banner
Nice win. It would be even nicer to see a series of games like this in a row so we kind of know what to expect on any given night. Seems like we’re still seeing a little bit of “The Switch” that keeps getting turned on and off. How about they flip it on and keep it on. Go Pistons
WooHoo, very nice to have my nails back! Great win!
No one seems to notice though that my main man Maxiell got what, 7 minutes last night? He brought the energy and some pretty nice dunks. I don’t want to hear about the Spurs size either…when Max is on, I don’t care. He needs more minutes. At least he can finish around the rim (You reading this Kwame?).