| Re: At Philadelphia Jan 23 7PM
Sprocket Cap
Coming off a three game losing streak, the Pistons play a methodical game to beat the Sixers in Philadelphia 86 to 78. Superb play from the starting guards, who account for 40 of the Pistons’ points, and improved play off the bench proves to be too much for the 16 and 28 Sixers.
The Pistons start the game with a clear mission, to share the ball and to avoid long jumpshots. All five starters take one shot each in the first three minutes, a post move each from Sheed and Dyess, drives to the basket from Prince and Rip, and a short jumper from Billups on the break start the game. Only the backcourt actually manages to put the ball in the hoop, but still the intent was fun to watch. The starting guards continue to strike for the Pistons, scoring all 16 of the team’s points in the first seven minutes of the game. Billups then hits his third three of the quarter, but heads to the bench with his second foul at the 2:34 mark. A fairly long stretch of zone defense helps to hold the Sixers in check.
The bench struggles however to finish the quarter with Stuckey and then Maxiell committing the team’s first two turnovers of the game. The quarter ends with the Pistons up by two on a near airball from Stuckey. The Sixers dominate the quarter on the boards 12 to 4, with 6 on the offensive end, none for the Pistons.
The Sixers start the second half pressing and while they don’t produce any steals in the backcourt, the pressure leaves the Pistons little time on the clock to set up their offense and they continue to turn the ball over, giving it up two more times in the first two minutes of the quarter. Fortunately for the Pistons the Sixers also play fast and loose with the ball. Still, they make up the first quarter deficit and only an offensive board and dunk from Amir Johnson pulls the Pistons even at 36 at the five minute mark. The Pistons go back to the zone, and a nice stretch with Stuckey, Affalo, Prince, Maxiell, and Johnson in the game stretches the lead to nine on the back of an 18-5 run.
The Pistons continue their hot shooting in the second and end the half at 58%, on 11-19 from two and 4-9 from three. They make up a good part of the rebounding gap in the second, especially on the offensive end with three more offensive boards than the Sixers in the period.
A 4-0 start by the Pistons in the third continues the run and forces the Sixers to call timeout less than a minute into the period. The wheels come off the Piston’s game after that though and the Sixers respond to Cheeks’ tongue-lashing with a 10-2 run to make the score 64-58 Pistons at the 3:28 mark. The teams trade baskets the rest of the way, with the Pistons adding one point to the lead to finish the quarter at 70 to 63. After scoring 25 in each of the first two quarters the Pistons only manage 20 in the third, with the worst yet to come.
A soccer game breaks out in the fourth quarter as both teams combine to score one point (by the Sixers) in the first three minutes of the period. Stuckey shows he has been listening to Lindsey by coming up both with a very Hunteresque steal and a missed dunk on the run-out. At the seven minute mark of the period the teams have shot a combined one for eighteen for the period, with the sole field goal coming from the Pistons. The Pistons’ lead stays at seven the rest of the way until a Rip free throw ends the scoring for the 30th Pistons’ victory of the season.
The starters end up playing fairly heavy minutes, ranging from Dyess at 35 to Prince at 38. Still, four bench players have ten minutes or more with 26 from the rookie guards and 15 from Amir Johnson. The bench ends up shooting fairly poorly (37%) with a fair number of missed layups, but provide a nice spark on the defensive end and engineer a very nice run in the second.
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"But first, are you experienced? Or have you you ever been experienced? Well, I have."
Jimi |