Nice game for "Pistons home/away crowd" as once again it appeared that there were more us with Pistons jerseys/garb there than those with Clipper gear. Of course you heard the "DEEEtriot Basketball chants"", the SHEEED everytime he got the rock,>> even "ball don't lie" was yelled out when Sheed had a bogus foul called on him. There were plenty of oohs and aahs and hollers on JMAX's dunks and attempted dunks, and of course the big cheers when Fabio dazzled the crowd in the end. The Pistons fans without Detroit gear came out of their shell and were there cheering in the second half when it appeared the game was over for the Clippers, as the boys in blue led from start to finish.....

The Clips really miss EB and Livingston....no wonder Sam abandoned them.... Kaman played in his first game in a week after getting an epidural, (no he is not pregnant), but this was supposed to eliminate the back pain.) He started out good but faded after playing the whole first quarter. Cuttino Mobley was a no show and seem to have a stomach cramps midway thru the game. poor Maggete...he got his points but most of them came at the FT line (he has averaged on 10 points at the line the last 11 games). Dunleavy came out of the lockerroom with a scared look on his face and the end of the game he walked off with the same face.

Now back to the Pistons..Tay took over for the missing CB, shouting directions and scoring on jumpers, short pops and runners. He lead the team in points and assists with 22-10, and it appeared that he had something to prove to his relatives friends sprinkled throughout the crowdd. AJ returned to the line-up and provided his relatives and high school friends with a couple of blocks and steller defense as wll as leading the team with rebounds.

Sheed was the catalyst in the beginning scoring 13 points in the first 7.5 mins but only 4 after that. I actually told my wife at halftime that despite Sheeds first half scoring heroics, he would not top 20 and I was right. Those 4 blocks were enouht to frustrate Kaman & Co though.

The bench was impressive tonight. After starting off slow in the 2nd qtr, they finally came around and had the Clipper faithful wondering who they were and yours truly had to provide resume information.

Although Stuckey was OK in his first start, Dixon was a pleasant surprise off the bench leading the zoo crew in scoring and assists. The zoo crew scored 41 points as Dunleavy threw out the white flag with about 5 mins left in the contest>>er actually this was no contest. It was just an excuse for Team Piston to enjoy some sunshine and R & R California and then end it with a nice entertaining scrimmage for the all of the former Detroiters who migrated out here over the last 25 years.

I sat about 4 rows back of the Clippers bench in the corner by the tunnel so I was not able to see what was going on at the Pistons bench down the way, but I can tell you that coach-in-training Lindsey Hunter walked out on the floor with the rest of the coaches on every time out and provided his opinion. If Dixon can play that way vs the C's next week, we might be able to shut down Hunter for good.

Meaningless stats> Pistons scored 52 points in the paint, more than 20+ above their average. They got 28 assists, which translates to 38 games in a row that a game topping 24 assists have resulted into a W ( and no Chauncy>>who needs him any) Pistons are a league best 25-1 when scoring 100+ points.

Time to get some rest now, got to get up and drive to Vegas in the morning. I will check my photos and if any are decent I will upload when I return Tuesday....