In a battle over 2 teams that are a combined 31 games back of the Central Division standings, the Pistons came out on top 89-78.

The night belonged to Richard Hamilton who, for all intents and purposes, had been virtually dismissed from the team that he helped win the 2004 NBA Finals.  Hamilton scored 15 points on 7-14 shooting in 20 minutes off the bench for the visiting Pistons.  A night after it was reported he admitted that he may never set foot on the floor for the Detroit Pistons, Hamilton said about his check-in:

“I thought it was a joke. Like I said, I had no idea. No idea. Just yesterday I was inactive. Like I said I thought that was a sign that was my last time ever playing in a Piston uniform, you know?”

It can be argued that the Pistons needed his help to overcome the struggling Bucks on the road – Hamilton tied for team high +9 and was the second leading scorer.  If not for Tayshaun Prince’s 12 points and 11 rebounds, Hamilton could’ve easily won “Player of the night”.  Let’s look at the highlights:

• Greg Monroadwarrior Monrobocop Monroe continued his solid play in the post for the Pistons – he finished with 7 points and 7 rebounds
• For all the talk last year about how good the now second year point guard Brandon Jennings was, he sure has come back down to earth in a major way
• Every Pistons player that played finished on the plus side of the +/- statistic
• Austin Daye with 28 solid minutes off the bench, most on either team
• A lot of people had the Bucks as their “sleeper” coming into this season after the acquisitions of Corey Maggette, Drew Gooden, and John Salmons – maybe we shouldn’t be giving former Piston executive John Hammond as much credit as he has been getting for building the Pistons.  The Bucks are loaded with bad contracts now
• Chris Wilcox only played 7 minutes  – his lowest total in 14 games since coming back from injury
• CV scored 6 points against his former team off the bench
• I’d like to think the Bucks are what the Pistons would be if they had a scoring center – but then I remember that the backcourt of the Pistons is better and the bench is deeper
• Mr. McGrady is steadily giving the Pistons minutes at the point – 30 minutes and 20 points for McGrady
• Former Piston great Carlos Delfino had an off night – well, it’s a night that Pistons fans are used to seeing out of him (2-11 shooting and 8 points)
• Tonight’s loss for the Bucks was their 14th out of the last 21 games

The Pistons get to spend Superbowl Sunday at home with their families before they gear up for their next game on Tuesday when Antonio McDyess and the 42-8 San Antonio Spurs come to the Palace to face off against the Pistons.  The Spurs have been by far the league’s hottest team and they’re being lead by Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.