Bleacher Report - Articles by Chris Thompson

Suns-Raptors, Mavericks-Jazz: Monday Morning Mashup

Chris Thompson — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 09:37:00 -0500

Weekends are great.

No work, lounge time around the house, just plain relaxation.

But now it's back to the grind, and here we are with a couple of great games on this past weekend.

First, Saturday featured the Jazz and Mavericks—and no, Mark Cuban didn't walk out onto the court this time.

But what a matchup this one was!

Two of the high powered western conference offenses squared off, and man they did not disappoint. It was an all-out aerial assault, with a little post up action to. The final score was 115-108.

In an ironic turn of events, the Jazz shot a higher percentage from the floor. They hit 51 percent of their shots, where as the Mavs only hit 50 percent.

Dirk Nowitzki looked like his former MVP self, as he put up a very impressive 16-20 shooting and a grand total of 39 points. The Mavs went on to win, snapping a four-game losing skid.

On Sunday, there was again another show of offense. The Raptors took on the Phoenix Suns at home in hopes of a win against a Western Conference power.

Unfortunately, it did not happen as the Raptors fell 117-113.

Leading the scoring for the Suns was none other than Amare Stoudamire.

Even though Steve Nash wasn't on the high scorers list, he still deserves honorable mentions with his impressive 18 assists.

Two Possible NBA Finals Matchups Tonight

Chris Thompson — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:15:00 -0500

Two games caught my eye as I looked at the NBA schedule for tonight:

Cavs-Hornets and Lakers-Magic.

All four of these teams have playoff potential, and a very good chance of winning the title come season's end.

The Cavs are looking like a championship-caliber team this year, as they are now sit at an impressive 30-7, and have one of the front runners for the MVP this season in LeBron James.

What do the Cavs have to do to win tonight? I know—dumb question, right?

They must close out Chris Paul. With Paul averaging 22 points a game and just over 12 assists per game, watch for double teams to try to trap him to try to force the turnover.

CP3 and the Hornets have a tough matchup before them tonight against the impressive Cavs. The Hornets have a record worse than how they look when they play. 23-12 appears to be a little low for how well they have been playing as of late. The Hornets should watch video of the Bulls vs. Cavs game from last night to see what they did to slow LeBron down.

My prediction for this game: Cleveland -3 (point spread from Betus.com).

The other matchup, Lakers vs. Magic, which airs tonight at 10:30 PM, also has National Championship-caliber.

The Lakers sit atop the Western Conference with an unprecedented record of 31-7. Kobe is having another All-Star-caliber season, but one thing that the Lakers must do to slow down the Magic is—you guessed it—cover Dwight Howard. Dwight has averaged nearly 14 rebounds per game this season. Box him out, to win the game.

The Magic are second overall in the Power rankings this week, seated behind the the Cavs (King James, King Cavs, ironic), with their record at 31-8. You guessed it—guarding Kobe Bryant is the way the Magic are going to win this game tonight. Expect this one to be a great game.

My pick Orlando by +4 1/2.

Enjoy the games tonight, everyone.

Detroit Pistons Stick to Small Ball Despite Troubles

Chris Thompson — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:44:20 -0500

The rumors have been flying around Mo-town these past couple of days about who should start for the Pistons: Richard Hamilton, or recently-aquired Allen Iverson.

What did Michael Curry decide to do? He kept both in the starting lineup.

His starting lineup was as follows:

Rodney Stuckey PG
Allen Iverson SG
Richard Hamilton SF
Tayshaun Prince PF
Rasheed Wallace C

Here is a quote from the Detroit Free Press direct from Michael Curry:

“When we looked at everything with the team, we really liked the way we start the first and third quarter, ’cause in the past it had been a problem with this small lineup.

“What we have to do is try to find a way for about 32 minutes of the game to have two bigs out on the court...Regardless of what group starts and plays throughout the game, we’ve got to continue to get better defensively. And I think everyone understands that.”

Curry said he expects to keep the same small lineup for the Pistons next game, today against Indiana. His reasoning is that the Pistons are going to be faced with smaller, quicker lineups and he wants to post a roster that fits those needs.

In last night's game Rasheed Wallace tagged another technical foul onto his already impressive list. He now sits with 13, and Michael Curry said that 'Sheed needs to emphasize more self-control into his play.

“He’s got to have more self-restraint. That’s on him. He knows what we demand as a team, and he owes it to us as a team to show better restraint.”

The Pistons did not score for over the last two minutes of regulation and gave up the go ahead basket with 0.7 seconds left on the clock. They fell to the Bobcats 80-78 last night in the Palace.

Allen Iverson had a few words to say about last night's game—again, quoted by the Detroit Free Press:

“We need to start playing better than this. It’s as simple as that. We had a 78-71 lead and couldn’t get it done. That’s unacceptable. They did what they had to do on both ends of the floor.”

Iverson also went on to say that this game felt reminiscent of the last meeting between these two teams, except this time the Pistons couldn’t close out the game. In the last meeting the Pistons almost blew a 29-point lead, but hung on to win.

Tonight the Pistons will take on the Indiana Pacers in hopes of stopping this two game skid they are currently on.

Richard Hamilton or Allen Iverson; Who Would You Choose?

Chris Thompson — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:59:12 -0500

Some Pistons fans would want to see Allen Iverson start for the remainder of the season because they believe that he is the better player of the two. Others want to see Rip Hamilton start because they haven’t seen anyone else play the spot since he became a Piston.

People are contemplating both sides of the spectrum, but what do you think?

Personally, I believe this is a good problem to have. Why? Well think about it, this means that we have two exceptionally well players at the SG position, and that means that the Pistons will have depth whether AI starts or Rip starts.

I don’t know about any of you but that sounds like a pretty good deal.

If they were to split time on the court, they would be a dominate force. Two of the NBA’s best on one team would drive the opposing SG insane.

Most teams only have one SG that can play with the rest in the NBA, the Pistons have two. With that one-two punch combo, the Pistons should be in for some rather easy matchups because opposing SG are always going to have to keep up with two fresh players.

They will eventually begin to run circles around them, and down the stretch of the fourth quarter they should be able to take over and dominate.

Leave your thoughts in the comments section. I’m interested to know what everyone thinks.

Detroit Pistons Face Another Long Road Trip Beset by Injuries

Chris Thompson — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:01:28 -0500

Their Western Conference road trip is now over.

What do the Pistons now have to look forward to?

Another long string of games.

Five games in seven days, to be exact.

For a Pistons team that has been banged up over the past couple of weeks, this could be a crazy, unpredictable week.

First off, Rip Hamilton is still being bothered with a slight tear in his groin and is listed as day to day. When he comes back, he may have to come off the bench—which he is none too happy about.

Rodney Stuckey is battling back spasms, and had to leave the game against Utah before half in order to get them checked out.

Antonio McDyess is suffering from a multitude of injuries ranging, from sore ribs to a bruised thigh.

You get the point. The Pistons are banged up.

But fortunately, the first part of their schedule is going to give them time to recover:

Tuesday 1/13 Charlotte

Wednesday 1/14 @ Indiana

Friday 1/16 @ Oklahoma City

The first two games on their schedule (Charlotte and Indiana) should give them time to play the bench players for some of the game, which will give the Pistons time to rest their starters in hopes of a full recovery from their injuries.

Oklahoma is going to be an unpredictable game, though, as to what they are going to do in terms of rest for the starters.

If anyone can recall, last time the Pistons played Oklahoma City, it came down to the wire, with Allen Iverson making a little nine-foot jumper in the lane to win it.

We will have to see how the game goes—they may not have to play more than 15 minutes on the floor, or they may have to play the whole game.

The only reason I am saying that the first part of their five games in seven day streak will be the easiest is because they have New Orleans, and Chris Paul, who has been dominant all year, and Memphis after that.

Memphis is included in the harder part of the schedule, because against New Orleans the Pistons will do a lot of running up and down the court. When they face Memphis two days later, they may be all out of energy.

Tuesday, the Charlotte Bobcats come to the Palace in hopes of upsetting the Pistons. Let's hope the Pistons can start another eight-game win streak by downing the Cats.

Rip Hamilton Causing Drama In Motown?

Chris Thompson — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 16:47:17 -0500

Rip Hamilton, before the Pistons' road game against the Jazz, told when asked by reporters what he thought about coming off the bench once he was fully healthy again—starting was his only option.

“That’s the only option,” he said.

When he was reminded that Curry thought about going back to the bigger more traditional lineup and he may have to sit the bench he was not too fond of that idea.

“That ain’t happening.”

Hamilton has now been sidelined for eight consecutive games—but on the lighter side of things, his return date is beginning to become a little more focused. It appears that Hamilton will be ready to go on Tuesday when the Pistons have their first home game after they went 2-2 on their Western Conference road trip.

“We’ve decided that Rip was going to try and get some work in the next couple of days, rest on Sunday, return to practice Monday and be ready to go Tuesday,” coach Michael Curry said.

With Hamilton having said that he is nothing more than a starter, what could possibly happen if he is told that his role is to come off the bench?

Well it could turn out like the Stephon Marbury situation in New York and he could be told not to return to the Pistons organization, well maybe that is taking it a little far, but it is a possibly. That would be one of the most extreme cases for the Pistons.

On the flip side, he could be perfectly fine with it. He could end up being like a smaller Antonio McDyess, fully content on coming off the bench. Let’s pray that it is this option.

All I know is that Hamilton's comments before the Utah game were very uncalled for and disrespectful to his team mates and the organization as a whole.

Should the Pistons take action against him and suspend him from a game, or fine him?

No, that is not a necessary punishment—but I do believe that they need to sit this guy down and explain to him that there is no “I” in team before it is too late.

Hamilton is a very great player, and whether or not he comes off the bench would make no difference to me. It would be a little different at first, but so was AI playing on the Pistons team.

Let’s just hope that these comments don’t ruin the chemistry that the Pistons have appeared to have found on the court.

Pistons Lose Eighth in a Row to the Utah Jazz

Chris Thompson — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:27:51 -0500

What can you say about streaks like these? Well thank goodness that the Pistons don’t have a streak like this against every team in the NBA.

Saturday night, the minutes that every player had been putting up, due to the loss of Rip Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace (Wallace played Saturday), finally showed through. They looked slow, and did not have an answer for former Piston Mehmet Okur.

Okur had a huge first quarter. He scored 15 of his eventual 22 in the first. He was guarded by Amir Johnson, who didn’t seem to be able to stop him. Amir would eventually foul out without a single rebound.

“They just kicked our (expletive) tonight. That’s it,” Detroit guard Allen Iverson said.

Wallace made his first appearance in four games last night. He played 23 minutes and helped the Pistons with 8 points and 4 rebounds.

“They go hard,” said Wallace, who returned to the Pistons’ lineup after missing the previous four games with a sore right foot. “They’re relentless. That’s one of the things I like playing against them. I know they’re not a cupcake team out there. I always look forward to playing against them.”

Rip Hamilton was still inactive last night and has now missed eight games in a row.

The Pistons have now lost their eighth straight against the Utah Jazz, but this game was one of the few blowouts of the series. The Pistons eventually lost by the score of 99-82. The 17 point loss is much larger than the 6.4 point loss they have averaged.

The Pistons will face the Charlotte Bobcats on Tuesday at home in hopes of a victory.

Pistons-Nuggets: Denver Brought to a Mile Low by Detroit

Chris Thompson — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 10:31:34 -0500

Chauncey Billups, the current shining star in Denver, brought the Pistons to their knees in the first half of the Pistons-Nuggets game on Friday night as he put on a scoring clinic by scoring 20 points.

The Nuggets would enter half time with a 48-38 lead over the Pistons.

He took Rodney Stuckey to school, blowing by him for two easy lay-ups and scoring a total of nine points against him in the first quarter.

Stuckey would leave late in the Second quarter due to muscle spasms that he suffered in an earlier loss to the Portland Trailblazers.

“It’s fun when you get to hook up with your buddies and compete,” he said. “At some point of the game you try to win.”

As was expected at the start of the game, AI was given a standing ovation as he was back in Denver for the first time.

Why? He helped the Nuggets to their first 50-win season since the Reagan administration.

That is reason enough, even though he doesn’t play for them any longer.

AI may have been cheered for, but there was no love for fellow teammate Antonio McDyess, as he was booed after everything he did. Every time he touched the ball, scored or fouled a Nuggets player he was jeered at.

Why? Back on Nov 3, the date of the infamous blockbuster trade, he was traded back to Denver for the second time in his career—but once there he let the Nuggets know he wasn’t about to play for them, and was bought out.

30 days later, he signed with the Pistons again.

Much of the Pistons' success came from the man of the night himself, Allen Iverson. He may not have made a lot of his field goal attempts, but he was solid from the line as he scored nine of his 23 from the free-throw line.

One big contributor to the Pistons winning effort was Pistons backup SG Arron Afflalo. He shot 4-9 from the field, 1-5 from behind the arc and shot a perfect 8-8 from the line. In all he totaled out to 17 points in 21 minutes of floor time.

Friday night's game came down to the wire, and with 20 seconds left Tayshaun Prince hit a moving jumper from nine feet to give the Pistons the lead and the eventual win.

He (Prince) led the Pistons on the defensive end of the court in the fourth quarter only allowing the red hot Chauncey Billups to four points.

“We had to give him a different look because he was terrorizing us throughout the game,” Prince said. “There’s nobody else on the court that knows Chauncey’s game like me.”

The Pistons only shot 37 percent in the first half last night, but their defense, which they are not most known for this year, was able to keep the game at a reasonable deficit until they rebounded in the fourth.

Notes

Rip missed his seventh straight game with a groin injury.

Rasheed Wallace was also out with a sore foot for the fourth straight game.

Chauncey Billups Thinks Trade Was a Good Thing

Chris Thompson — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:41:59 -0500

On November 3, 2008 it was announced that Chancey Billups, would be heading to Denver to play for the Nuggets and in turn the Detroit Pistons would receive Allen Iverson.

Just today Chauncey Billups was interviewed on local radio station WDFN by the Stoney and Wojo Show.

Chauncey said he now understand why the Pistons traded him for Allen Iverson—it had nothing to do with either veteran player but it was so that Rodney Stuckey could develop into a great point guard faster without Billups in front of him in the lineup.

Billups said there are no hard feelings between him and the Pistons:

“I do [understand]. Time heals all [wounds]. And it gives you a chance to sit back and recollect.

"And I do think it was a good trade for both teams. I knew there was going to be an adjustment period for them playing with [Iverson]. He’s just a different dynamic of a player than I am. We’re just different. Both really good in our own right, but just different.

"But you look at what they’re going to be able to do in the years to come with the cap—it was a good trade for both teams.”

The Pistons will square off with the Nuggets for the first time since the trade tonight.

All-Star Game on Approach and Allen Iverson Is Starting*

Chris Thompson — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 11:09:07 -0500

Every NBA fan waits for this weekend every year—the NBA All-Star weekend every February.

This All-star weekend will be no different.

It is still compromised of all of the same events:

The Sprite Slam Dunk Contest
The Footlocker Three Point Shootout
The T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam
The Playstation Skills Challenge
The Haler Shooting Stars
The NBA All-Star Celebrity Game
The D-League All-Star Game

And Last but Not Least the All-Star Game itself presented as the last horah of the weekend. In 2005 Allen Iverson, was picked to go to the All-Star weekend and ended up winning MVP honors with his magnificent display of 15 points and 10 assists.

With the way things are shaping up in the Eastern Conference voting right now AI currently sits second on the list of Guards to be elected to play. The only man to currently be ahead of him in the voting is Miami’s Dwayne Wade. with an impressive 1,818,717 votes.

Allen Iverson, as my own personal opinion, has no problem securing the second place spot as Vince Carter, currently in third, only has 856,498 votes and the voting ends 10 days from now.

That is a lot of ground to make up to get passed. So congratulations AI on making the All-Star team.

*Starting as of right now, he is in second place in the voting for guards and the first two will start the game.

Who Can't the Pistons afford to lose?

Chris Thompson — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:32:47 -0500

I recently saw this question posted on the Mlive.com Pistons forum:

So, we have been fine losing Sheed and Rip due to injuries. Who is one player we cant afford to go down?

With the Pistons now down two key players in Rasheed Wallace and Rip Hamilton, and Antonio McDyess is banged up with various injuries, who can’t the Pistons afford to lose?

It would have to be either Rodney Stuckey or Tayshaun Prince. Why? They have both been playing out of their minds over the past five games since Rip went down with the groin injury.

Over the past five games, the numbers don’t lie for how great these two players have played.

Tayshaun Prince has 18.8 points per game in each of the last five, along with nearly three assists. His 7.4 rebounds per game would be sorely missed and honestly no one could make up for.

Along with those stats, he has also shot nearly 50 percent from the floor and has 1.2 blocks per game.

Rodney Stuckey, the Pistons shining young star, would be another Piston that would be missed if he were to fall due to injury.

Like Tayshaun, Stuckey has averaged 18.8 points in Rips absence, and put up five assists per game.

His shooting percentage from the floor is nearly 50 percent and has made over 75 percent of his free throws taken.

If Stuckey or Prince were to go down with an injury right now with two Pistons out and another fighting an injury, I would expect the Pistons to fall into a slump and watch their 7-game win streak disappear.

Richard Hamilton Is Out, Rasheed Wallace May Play: A Pistons Injury Update

Chris Thompson — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:02:14 -0500

The latest news to flash across my screen is regarding the playing time of Rip Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace in the Pistons' upcoming game against the Portland Trailblazers.

Hamilton suffered his torn groin injury late last month against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and will likely be sitting this one out.

The Pistons seem to be doing alright with him out of the starting lineup, with a seven-game win streak to prove it. He would be a great presence to have available for game time, though.

It is reported that center Wallace is doing better with regard to his right foot injury, suffered against the New Jersey Nets. He has missed the last two games.

Wallace was seen participating in drills yesterday, and may be able to play game time tonight against the Trailblazers.

Allen Iverson on SLAM Magazine Cover

Chris Thompson — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:07:10 -0500

Slam issue 125 is now officially up for sale, and who graces the cover of this sacred magazine: Allen Iverson. Of course, for anyone who reads this magazine knows that he is an annual guest on the cover. He has been on the cover for 10 of his past 13 seasons, and now he is going on his 11^th cover.

But why do the SLAM editors continue to put him on the cover:

“As the Free-Press story says, and as any longtime SLAM fan knows, dude has basically been an annual cover for us since he came in the League. And honestly, we never felt the slightest inclination to apologize for it. Besides the joy he has provided us with for 13 years, sales numbers show that he’s been either the most or second-most (MJ) popular cover subject in SLAM history. Simple truth of magazine publishing: when someone sells, you put them on the cover again. And again.”

Why shouldn’t he be on the cover this year? He is with a new club, and has a new attitude, a can-win attitude by playing with teammates.

Hopefully he can have another cover story except with the whole team after winning the championship. Congrats on the cover AI.

Rodney Stuckey's Jersey to Be Retired at Eastern Washington

Chris Thompson — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:49:55 -0500

Over the past two years Rodney Stuckey has made a name for himself as being one of the top point guards in the NBA. So why not retire his jersey?

Well, that is exactly what his alma mater is doing. Reports are in today that Stuckey’s former jersey is to be retired. He will go down in the university’s history as one of the best to have ever played for the Eagles.

Stuckey would now be a senior for the Eagles if he had decided to stay. He averaged 24 points for the Eagles over his two years there. Then the Pistons drafted him in the first round.

Now he is an NBA household name in the state of Michigan. He has averaged 13 points a game this season alone. So congratulations to Stuckey on having his jersey retired!

A Few Pistons Notes

Rasheed Wallace is still listed as day-to-day due to his foot injury. He sat out against the Clippers on Sunday and is questionable for Wednesday against his former team, the Portland Trailblazers.
Rip Hamilton is still listed as day-to-day due to his groin injury. He sat out Sunday's game against the Clippers and is questionable for the road game against the Portland Trailblazers.
Stuckey was honored this week as the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

Pistons Move Up in Rankings, but Down in People's Confidence.

Chris Thompson — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:14:45 -0500

This weeks NBA Power rankings are out and the Pistons have moved back into the top ten. After 5 weeks in the teens, the Pistons are now back.

Since Rodney Stuckey entered into the starting lineup, the Pistons are 13-3 and are now on a 7-game win streak which helped boost them in the rankings. But when many are beginning to think that the Pistons are back, others are thinking that they are on the decline.

What I mean is that the Pistons' regular apperance in the Eastern Conference Finals is now over. With so many teams moving up in the standings from the Eastern Conference, four to be exact, critics are beginning to think that the Pistons will lose early in the playoffs this year.

ESPN The Magazine writer Chris Broussard had this to say of the current Eastern Conference shake up:

“I know it doesn’t make me Nostradamus to say the East will come down to Boston and Cleveland. But if there’s a third team that can disrupt the expected Eastern Conference final, I say it’s Orlando, not Detroit. The nice little run the Pistons had is officially over. Not only will they fail to reach the conference finals for the first time in seven years, but they will be ousted from the playoffs in the first round—by Atlanta!”

Man, oh man, no faith in our Pistons' team. They are finally beginning to click, and what happens; people begin to lose faith in the Pistons. Like I posted last week, Winning after Jan. 1 is a Pistons' tradition, the Pistons always begin to win after the New Year. They have not had a season where they have had less than 35 wins since before the 2003-04 season.

Chris Broussard thinks that Boston and Cleveland will own the East. Cleveland I am sure will earn the No. 1 spot in the playoffs, but Boston I’m not sure if they will last. They are currently on a slide after only winning two of their last six games (their last lost coming from the New York Knicks).

What am I getting at? I’m saying that I am not worried about the Pistons making the Eastern Conference Finals, rather it may be a little painful to watch at times during the playoffs as they may lose a couple games they should have won. But overall we will see the Pistons go far in this year's playoffs.

Antonio McDyess: The Warrior Within

Chris Thompson — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:19:26 -0500

As many of us Pistons' fans have heard, Antonio McDyess has quite the knack for getting injuries these days. That is not to say that he doesn’t play though. He is quite the warrior and guts it out through every game. Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press said that "seeing McDyess after the game in the locker room, you would have thought he had just fallen off of a cliff."

Ellis went on to say, "He had bags of ice on both of his knees, another around his ribs. Oh yeah, and he still has a sore right thigh and a wrapped pinky after he had it popped out of place in the game Sunday against the Clippers."

Coming into the game yesterday against the Clippers, Antonio wasn’t even sure if he was going to play.

“I really thought this game I wasn’t going to play because when I woke up yesterday, it was ridiculous bad,” McDyess said of his ribs. “Today it was all right. It’s crazy, but it felt pretty good. I was surprised, and then another injury comes along.”

Teammate Allen Iverson has had his share of injuries throughout his career so he would know what McDyess is going through. But when he saw his finger get popped out of place he thought that McDyess was done for the night.

“When I saw that finger I knew he wasn’t coming back into this game here,” Iverson said.

But McDyess wasn’t about to miss the rest of this game. He came back and played with the same, if not more, intensity that he had before the finger injury.

“Out of nowhere he comes walking back onto the floor,” Iverson said. “I said to him, ‘You ain’t tougher than me.’ He kind of said, ‘No, I am not,’ but he sure showed a lot of toughness right there.”

Head Coach Michael Curry was glad to have the Pistons emotional leader back on the floor. During McDyess’ absence the Pistons went through a lull in their scoring and intensity on the court.

“I think when 'Dyess hurt his finger I kind of thought we went through a lull right there,” coach Michael Curry said. “If you have a guy who is kind of the emotional leader, when he goes down, everybody is uncertain about how bad it is…he just plays. The guy wants it bad, and he wants to finish his career these last few years with a chance of winning big and winning a title.

Talk about a championship caliber player. Playing through four different injuries now, Antonio McDyess sure is the emotional leader of this Pistons' team.

Fantasy Player: Rodney Stuckey & Tayshaun Prince

Chris Thompson — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:15:27 -0500

This was a very hard choice in terms of who should be the Fantasy Player to have from the Pistons last night. But, I had to go with two, because both played out of this world last night. So congratulations to both Rodney Stuckey and Tayshaun Prince for winning top honors today.

A controversial call was the deciding factor in the Pistons' win over the Clippers. Allen Iverson drove the lane, and with a finger roll layup, the ball appeared to be going in, that was until LA Clippers' defensemen Al Thorton reached up and swatted the ball away. A goal-tending foul was called, and the Pistons took the lead 88-87 which would end the game.

Nonetheless, the Pistons are still rolling right along, now dropping seven in a row, and going for their eighth on Wendensday against the Trailblazers.

As for Rodney Stuckey & Tayshaun Prince, here are their numbers.

Points: Rodney Stuckey (24) Tayshaun Prince (20)

Assists: Rodney Stuckey (6) Tayshaun Prince (2)

Rebounds: Rodney Stuckey (4) Tayshaun Prince (7)

Steals: Rodney Stuckey (2) Tayshaun Prince (0)

Blocks: Rodney Stuckey (0) Tayshaun Prince (3)

The Pistons finally got the first win on a Sunday and their record for Sunday games now sits at 1-6. That is definitely better than 0-7. They are doing better than the Lions already.

Some Other Game Notes:

Antonio McDyess left the game in the second quarter after being hit in the hand. He suffered a dislocated pinky, but would return to play to grab 15 rebounds on the night.

“I didn’t even want to look at it,” McDyess said. “It was just sitting onto the side of my hand.”

Kwame Brown reached up and grabbed 11 boards, passing his season high of 10.
Allen Iverson had one of his worst shooting performances of his career only shooting 7-22 from the floor.