^The scene at the Palace looked like this for the first 36 minutes. The Pistons led by 16 and had been up by as many as 25. Ben Wallace was having one of the best offensive nights of his life. Tracy McGrady threw down a windmill dunk (I’m serious). It looked like the Pistons were certainly just 12 minutes away from their eighth victory of the season… and then things went horribly wrong, as they often do in D-Town these days.
Random Observations:
- Highlight Recap: Tracy McGrady windmills off a lob from Will Bynum. Will Bynum leans and dunks. Rondo lobs one to KG. See the top 10 for more.
- Detroit tied a season best by scoring 116 points. They shot 52.8% from the floor. They forced 18 turnovers. Ben Wallace scored a career high 23 points and even hit a three-pointer. Still, the Pistons found a way to lose the game. Led by Jerryd Bayless and his 31 points, the Raptors pulled off a franchise-record-setting comeback by recovering from a 25-point third quarter deficit. The Raptors were having no trouble putting the ball in the basket at any point in the game–they shot over 60% from the floor–but they were being held back by turnovers. Toronto coughed it up 14 times in the first half, which resulted in 29 points for Detroit. They got that straightened out at halftime, and only gave the ball away four times over the final 24 minutes. Entering the final period, Toronto was on a 7-1 run, but still trailed by 16. They would go on to out-score the Pistons 37-17 in the quarter (37-17=20-16=4=Craptors win!). Detroit only made seven shots in the fourth, and one of them was a meaningless three-pointer by Ben Wallace as time expired.
- The Charlotte Bobcats may have found an even more depressing way to lose than the Pistons. Charlotte shot 34% from the floor (I rounded up a little, too) and scored the second fewest points in franchise history (62) as they lost to the Celtics by 31. I actually watched this game. Don’t ask me why… I just did. Let me assure you that it was as ugly as the box score looks. Both teams actually looked pretty really bad offensively. There were multiple traveling violations, consecutive airballs, Kwame Brown at the freethrow line clanking shot after shot with lane violations… it was just bad. CSN Boston’s camera crew continuously displayed shots of MJ’s face, which always had the exact same expression of disgust… he seriously looked like he wanted to kill somebody (Kwame, watch your back). I thought for sure he was going to suit up before the night was over. He didn’t go that far, but I read that he did verbally assault his team after the game was over. I would imagine that Charlotte’s shooting stats have to be the worst of the season from any single game by any team: 24-71 FG, 1-11 3FG, and 13-23 FT. Boston’s fourth-string center, Semih Erden, was swatting shots at the rim like Dikembe Mutombo. Only Kwame Brown could make a Turkish stiff look so good defensively. Even Nazr Mohammed was able to put 14 on the dude.
- The Clippers dropped another one (second in a row) by just a single point. How’d they do it this time? First of all, they turned the ball over 27 times. They also allowed Rudy Gay and Tony Allen to dunk on their heads on consecutive possessions with about two minutes left. Down by one with five seconds remaining, they inbounded the ball to Baron Davis, who clanked a turnaround jumper as time expired. If I was Vinny Del Negro (thank God I’m not!) I probably would’ve gotten the ball to Eric Gordon. He had 25 points in the game and has been about as clutch as a player can be for a 5-19 team.
- The Dallas Mavericks got five threes from DeShawn Stevenson as they beat Utah by six. The winning streak is now at 12, and if Dirk Nowitzki continues to play the way he’s been playing they may never lose. Dirk made 10 of his 12 shots on his way to 31 points and 15 boards. He’s shot no worse than 55% in a game since December 1st. The Mavs had a 25-point first half lead, which they blew completely, but were bailed out by Dirk and Jet… those two combined for the final 21 Mavs points. Deron Williams dropped 34 in the loss.
- The other games: Kevin Martin dropped 22 first-quarter points on the Crapoliers. He ended up playing just 33 minutes due to the game being a blowout, so he was only able to put in 18 over the course of the next three quarters. Houston won by 15. I can’t remember the last time the Cavs won. According to Antawn Jamison’s game log, it was eight games ago against Memphis. The Hawks beat the Pacers by 14, knocking Indiana back to .500. Al Horford had a great fantasy line with 16/16/8, although he only shot 7-20. Derrick Rose knocked down a career high five threes and scored 21 points, his Bulls beat the Wolves by 31. In the late game, Miami extended their win streak to eight games by knocking off the Kings. D-Wade dropped 36/6/6 in the 21-point victory.
Quote of the Day: Kevin Martin on playing the Cavaliers…
“I had ‘em on a real string tonight. It was fun.”
Playing the Cavs is like an antidepressant for other bad teams.
Photo of the Day: MJ ponders potential ways to terminate Kwame Brown…
…and by terminate, I don’t mean cut. MJ doesn’t play.
