Los Angeles Lakers 93
Detroit Pistons 81
BoxscoreWith the Pistons missing Richard Hamilton, Ben Gordon, and Tayshaun Prince, things went as well as expected when they tangled with the world champ Lakers tonight.
Short-handed and fatigued by the 3 game West road trip, the Pistons were not the aggressors tonight.
Chucky Atkins got the Pistons off to a 7-2 lead. But the Lakers came roaring back with a 9-0 run and had the Pistons playing on their heels for the rest of the game.
The Pistons trailed by as much as 21 points, but managed to trim the Laker lead to 89-81 with just under two minutes left to go. The Lakers held the Pistons scoreless on their last 2 possessions, though, and scored two baskets to close out the game.
Lamar Odom had a relatively quiet game with 7 points and 10 rebounds. Kobe Bryant with 28 points and the Laker starting frontcourt compensated for his absence, keeping the Pistons at arm's length, forcing them to spread their defense, initiate their offensive sets farther away from the basket, and forcing turnovers.
Stuckey led the Pistons with 16 points on 6 of 14 shooting. He spent much of the game in foul trouble, but did a better job handling the ball with no turnovers. Ben Wallace had a solid game with 10 boards and 3 assists. Jerebko led the frontcourt with 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals, but had 4 turnovers.
Villanueva and Bynum were contained with 6 points apiece. But Austin Daye came off the bench to provide 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Kwame Brown had a solid game with 7 points and 8 rebounds. And DaJuan Summers helped spark the Piston surge in the 4th quarter with a triple.
The Pistons have one day to regroup before playing a struggling Charlotte on the road on Tuesday.
Follow Club Pistons on Twitter
( 11 -15 ) VS 
( 20 - 4 )
Ben Gordon Ques - Ankle.
Richard Hamilton Out - Hamstring.
Tayshaun Prince Out - Ruptured disc in back
Luke Walton Out - Back.
Will Bynum 4.5apg
Andrew Bynum 1.57bpg
