Good win. Nine in a row. CB missed his first 8 shots, but still helped us by getting to the line some. Then he took over the 4th quarter to win it for us, attributing his good showing to getting plenty of rest from Stuckey in this game. Billups hit a three to tie. Another to go ahead. 12 points in all in that 4th to end up with 16 in all. (4 made free throws earlier.) Billups also had a very efficient 8 assists to no turns.


Its questionable if Rip should have been in this game, as he did not seem to me all that recovered from the food poisoning he ws suffering from earlier today. But he still managed to make some shots. A clutch fast break layup against 4 defenders was his highlight.


Afflalo got plenty of time, including some defensive sub ops in this close game. Afflalo played some good D, hit an outside shot and made some free throws. He also had a nice drive and dish inside. He came in very early for Rip in the 3rd as our starters were not getting it done. We lost the 7 point lead we started the 2nd half with.


Stuckey hit an outside shot or two, got to the hoop for a layup here and there. 5 for 8 shooting in all. Two nice passes for scores too.
Amir scored 6, only playing the last 7 minutes or so of the 2nd quarter. Four of his points came on offensive rebound putbacks. He got to post up once at the end of the quarter, missing on a difficult hook shot.
Hayes hit one outside shot that I remember. He did not seem to have much impact on the game.


Maxiell did some board work, drew some fouls. Not many shots. No outside shots that I recall for him.
Tay did not do that much in this one. One important hoop going inside was his highlight.


Josh Smith did a lot of damage against us. None of our bigs could stop him consistently, as he has come up with a quite effective hook shot that looks pretty hard to block. Probably would have to double team the guy a lot in a playoff series if he can keeps making that shot. Amir had a turn trying to stop him to, and Smith got past him for scores.


Dyess hit a shot or two, not really a whole lot from him other than contending with some pretty good inside offensive players in Horford and Smith.



How would I grade this one on preparation for the playoffs? About a B. Amir did get a good stint in the first half. Stuckey played a ton and more importantly was counted on to play late into the 4th in a tight game. Afflalo ended up playing plenty after coming in there early in the 3rd. Maxiell keeps getting all the minutes he can handle. Hayes, like him or not, played enough minutes to keep Tay from getting overplayed. Thats a ten man rotation pretty much. To earn an A, yes, Amir could have played a few minutes in that 2nd half. Now, grading for the last few games as a whole: A +. the last nine games as a whole: A. It ain't been perfect. Been some C's in there. But a couple of A+ 's to balance those out. I say we remain on the right road. Championship ahead.

GO PISTONS!!!!!

I see I forgot to mention Sheed. He had a monster 1st quarter. He did good work inside and great work from the 3 point line. I see we got outrebounded badly in this one. Amir had 4 rebounds in his 7 minutes including 3 offensive boards. Maxiell had 2 offensive boards. Our starters: 2 offensive rebounds between them and just 10 total rebounds. Sheed ended up fouling out after getting 3 quick fouls to open the 4th quarter. When he fouled out, I think it was a makeup call as the refs missed a foul call on us a second earlier. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Good thing Sheed did not pick up a tech there as there was little wiggle room in our lead at that point.