The Pistons got just what they needed Saturday night before they head out for an extended road trip. Detroit took down the Raptors in convincing fashion right from the tip with a 37-14 first quarter, thanks to a 15 points Brandon Knight. The 105-86 beat-down was a beautiful thing to see.
Key Points:
- The Pistons 37 points in the first quarter was largest quarter total all season.
- Detroit is hot at home, taking 9 of their last 12 at The Palace.
- Don’t let the offensive numbers fool you, this team played defense all night long.
- Everyone played in this one, including Charlie Villanueva who jacked up a 3 pointer as soon as he got his hands on the ball. He went 0-for-2.
- I’m getting to like Damion Wilkins more and more each game. He’s all about defense and is doing a solid job backing up Prince. He finished with 8 points, 2 steals, a blocked shot, an assist and one board.
- Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons with 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting with 8 assists, 2 steals and 4 boards. It was a solid performance in all categories for Stuckey.
- The +/- from the starting five went a little something like this.
- Prince +27, Maxiell +20, Monroe +21, Stuckey +21 and Brandon Knight +16.
- Can’t remember the last time this team had so many easy baskets.
- Vernon Macklin is inactive now that Charlie V is healthy.
- The new and improved Pistons backcourt scored 39 points and 15 assists. Those are Chauncey and Rip kind of numbers.
- Knight finished with 19 points, 7 assists and 4 boards. His smile was brighter than ever after the game he was having. He almost connected on a alley-oop from Tay in the first quarter that would have brought the Palace house down. It’s good to see him bounce back like this.
- Another solid night from Jason Maxiell, whose production none of us saw coming. Jason finished with 12 points, 7 boards a steal and a blocked shot.
- The Swede with 13 and 6 boards and the NBA’s Block of the night.
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- Moose didn’t have to do the heavy lifting, which was nice for a change.
- Ben Wallace still grabbing boards.
- It’s always nice to put a smack down on someone, especially at home.
- Highlights via NBA.com
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Lawrence Frank “We had a real good pick-and-roll game going, very good intent in terms of turning the corner. The ball was moving and sharing, but it all started with good defense. This is our third straight game of holding a team to 86 points or less. Holding a team down to 40 percent (shooting percentage) and to win on the road there are certain things you have to do, you have to defend, rebound, and you have to have low turnovers.”
- Tayshaun Prince played his 700th career game in a Detroit uniform Saturday night.
- It’s not going o be easy-going forward, just look at the schedule.
nice convincing win. This was a game that was won primarily by solid defense.
Go Pistons!
Beautiful game. I don’t think we’ve played so convincingly well in 3 – 4 years.
i know its the raptors but whooooooaaaaaaa. played well actually looked like a team on half the plays.