This was a tough loss for the Pistons.  Detroit was up by 4 going into the 4th quarter against one of the league’s best teams in Miami.  Austin Daye, Ben Gordon and Greg Monroe started in place of Chris Wilcox (LeBron started at the 4 with Chris Bosh out), Ben Wallace (out for personal reasons) and Rodney Stuckey (out with a shoulder injury).

Austin Daye held his own against LeBron James, about as much as a 210lb guy can expect to do.  Coach Kuester shortened up the rotation by not going to Jason Maxiell or DaJuan Summers even though he was without 2 key rotation guys.

Let’s look at some of the highlights:

• Austin Daye got the first true test of his young NBA career, and didn’t do too bad.  He started matched up against LeBron James and stayed there the better part of the night and finished with 19 points and 9 rebounds.
• Detroit lost this game because of their poor shooting – 38% from the field and by their ability to not get to the free throw line – 11 attempts.
• Each team had a combined 15 turnovers.
• Perpetual pest Eddie House took advantage of Detroit’s help D by scoring 15 points off the bench on mostly wide open looks.
• Chris Wilcox finished the night with 10 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes.  His value has certainly gone up in the last few weeks since he’s been seeing more time on the floor.
• Tracy McGrady finished with 10 assists and 14 points – on top of a good defensive effort to keep the Heat’s Mike Miller from beating them on the perimeter.
• CV was cold from the floor all night, shooting 2 of 10 from the field and scoring only 6 points on the night.
• LeBron James took over in spurts and reminded us Pistons fans that he’s still capable of leading a team of no-names by scoring 39 points on 15 of 25 shooting.
• Greg Monroe with a near double-double on the night – 9 points and 8 rebounds.
• This road loss put Detroit at 5-20 on the season on the road.

The Pistons go up against the New York Knicks on Sunday, at Madison Square Garden.  Hopefully Ben Wallace will be back and able to start against Amare Stoudemire and the Knicks.