Before the game, and throughout whenever necessary, Fred McLeod reminded those of us watching on Fox of the Official Excuse For The Night ™: “we all know how hard it is the first game back after a West Coast trip.” It looked in the first quarter like we’d be needing it. Bulls guards were weaving their way around the PisCones as though auditioning for the All-Star Weekend Skills Competition. Meanwhile, on the other end, we were equally cone-like, standing still and missing contested jumper after contested jumper. On the positive side, we seemed a bit more active on the boards, especially on the defensive boards.

The second quarter was marginally better. Lindsey and, especially, Tony Delk came in and started to at least try to make things happen on offense. The defensive energy definitely stepped up in the second quarter and threw some cold water on the Bulls first quarter shooting spree. Tayshaun got a few easy buckets that seemed to enliven him a bit and integrate him into the offense more than he has of late. Sheed missed a couple of early bombs and disappeared after that until the 4th quarter. Evans also came in and hit one triple, showed some good energy on the boards, but didn’t really seem like a big factor. Chauncey had only one dish (I think) in the first half and the team as a whole had far fewer assists than usual: a sign not only of the Bulls’ energy, but of the Pistons’ lack thereof.

The big turnaround, however, came in the third quarter. Tay, who had been having a decent game, banged his knee, and Delfino came in, starved for burn, and came up with two steals and some aggressive offensive play. Meanwhile, the team started actually running an offense and it resulted in some open looks for Chauncey who was able to knock them down. The Pistons really locked down on defense in the third quarter too, allowing only 16 points in the period.

The fourth quarter was INSANE. Pistons go up 10, looking completely solid and in control. On one notable play, Chauncey and Sheed ran their pick and pop at the top of the key, Chauncey looked over to a wide-open Sheed behind the 3 point line, and then went inside to Tayshaun. Tay missed the shot, but that play suggested to me that the Pistons were conscious of trying to get the best shot available or to the line and of only taking the 3s (for the most part) only when they were the best shot (overall, I was pleased to see Tay working to get something other than a jumper and the team looking for him more -- he was 5 for 13 for 10 points). Anyway, then it starts raining triples on the other end of the court. We were doing a lot of scrambling and running out, but to the Bulls’ credit, they kept swinging the ball and eventually someone (Nocioni and Gordon principally) would get an open look from beyond the arc and sink it. I didn’t see a lack of effort on the Pistons’ part, however, and in the final minute and a half, that effort finally prevailed and we got the big stops needed to push us over the top.

When I look at the box score, several things stand out: we were outboarded 42-35, but the Bulls only got 7 offensive boards to our 16. We were out shot 53 % to 44 %, but we got 18 more shots than they did. The shot 56 % from 3 (way higher percentage than the league-leading Pistons usually give up in this category). We shot 17 3s, 1 under our average for the season (Sheed 1-5, Chauncey 4-5). The Bulls also committed 17 turnovers (11 on Pistons’ steals). Finally, despite the atrocious start, the Pistons wound up with 26 assists on 39 buckets. And I have to throw in: whatever legitimate complaints people might have about Flip’s philosophy, there was in this game an undeniable correlation, backed up by the box score, between the team’s increasing their player and ball movement, their taking the lead in the game and keeping it, and the number of assists they racked up. At the same time, it was important to see that in this game that same offensive flow could yield points in the paint (34 for us, 30 for them – I know they are a perimeter team, but still, we got the ball inside, especially at key times, got offensive rebounds, and eventually kept their guards out of the paint).

We saw the kind of intensity from the Bulls that I expect we’ll see from a lot of these “should-win” opponents over the next couple of weeks. They’re trying to get that 8th spot and other teams will be trying to get a better seed and so they’re pumped. Perhaps because it was the rival Bulls, or perhaps for some other reasons as well, the Pistons, after the first quarter, matched that intensity. When they did that, they were clearly in the game and looked little by little like a team that finds ways to win, adapting to what works, leaving out what doesn’t. That’s what we need to keep seeing.

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