This game was over in the 1st quarter.
The Lakers were able to score anywhere on the floor they wanted – in the paint, on the perimeter, and a little bit from 3. It’s nice that Coach Kuester thinks this team has enough talent to play everyone but, let’s face it, that’s not how championship teams are put together. Sure, teams need depth and strong benches to find success in the playoffs but… there’s really no reason to split the minutes so evenly among the starters and the backups.
Let’s get to the game’s lowlights, shall we?:
- Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum combined to shoot 13 of 17 from the floor for a combined 34 points. They scored 6 more combined points than the 2 highest Pistons’ scorers on the night
- Rookie Greg Monroe nabbed his 1st career double-double last night (14 points and 11 rebounds). His night was MOOSE-TASTIC!
- Tracy McGrady started at point guard again for the Pistons and scored 14 points and had 6 assists to go along with 6 turnovers
- Rodney Stuckey was back after missing a game with a stomach virus – he played 13 minutes off the bench and had 0 points
- Lamar
KardashianOdom always seems to get to the loose balls and hustle points against the Pistons – he poured in 16 and had 9 boards on the night - Another game, another lost rebounding battle: Pistons 37 – Lakers 41
- Pistons had 22 assists to go along with 16 turnovers
- Kobe had an off night but he still contributed a near triple double with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists
- Isn’t it funny how the Clippers play at the Staples Center too, and when the Lakers play it looks like a completely different arena?
- “Bosom Buddies” star Tom Hanks joined the 18,996 others in attendance to see this game
- McGrady drew a technical foul in the 2nd quarter by arguing a foul call against Kobe. It was pretty ticky tack, and if Sheed were on the floor you would’ve heard the emphatic “BALL DON’T LIE” shout since Kobe failed to convert the free throw attempt.
- Where was the D? Detroit blocked 2 shots and forced only 6 turnovers.
Lowlights of the gave via NBA.com
[flashvideo file=http://nba.cdn.turner.com/nba/big/games/lakers/2011/01/04/0021000511_det_lal_recap.nba_nba_576x324.flv /]
The Pistons are done with the West Coast for the rest of the year, thank goodness.
The tough part about this loss is knowing that now the Pistons are off for 3 days before playing again back home in Detroit. While most teams come out sharp after some extended rest, Detroit has shown time off is almost worse for them than playing on back to back nights.
Detroit returns home to face Jason Kapono and the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday at The Palace.
Did anyone notice that Fox Detroit decided to put Tom Gorse on TV with his daughters at the start of the second half? At least he attends games even if it’s in L.A. I wonder if that means something that Fox decided to show him at the game?
When was the last time anyone ever saw Mike Ilitch watching a Pistons game?
I think that means something if Tom ever gets a chance to own the team. He might really care if we win instead of just moving the Pistons to Detroit to build a new arena for his Red Wings
I dont think the game was over in the first quarter. No matter how bad we played in the first half, we’re just down 3 and we’re still on it. 3rd qtr, it was over.
I’m getting used to 2nd half collapses on the 2nd game of back to back. I cant hope for a win vs Kings on Jan 15.
Bring on Tom Gores!
Hahaha at the Sheed woulda had the ball don’t lie going last night comment Natalie!
LOL yes he would!
I like this T Mac quote:
“We didn’t move the ball, it was one pass and a shot,” he said of the collapse against the Lakers. “We didn’t play smart.”
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110106/SPORTS0102/101060348/Pistons-coach-John-Kuester-not-pleased-with-team’s-effort#ixzz1AIYuK0jm
John Kuester confirmed at practice on Thursday that Rodney Stuckey will be back as the starting point guard against the 76ers.
from pistons.com
i told you back to the starter.
http://detnews.com/article/20110107/SPORTS0102/101070347/1127/rss13
Hey Natalie! Hope you noticed this gem from the Detroit News. Hopefully this means we can see some serious progress from the Pistons.
I did, but I had so much hope in it going through before it’s hard to get my hope up at this point.
It’s amazing that the only guy who seems to even makes an concerted effort to make the ball is McGrady. If there were doubts about him being the Pistons number 1 player they are dispelled now.