Pistons dump Washington for third win in four games
Suddenly Sunny
by Keith Langlois
A season ago, much of the adversity the Pistons faced was self-inflicted and it crushed them. This season, against hardship applied externally, the Pistons are pushing back with different hands doing the shoving every night.
On the heels of a seven-game losing streak, the Pistons won for the third time in four games Sunday, beating another of the teams that will join them in the quest to grab one of the East’s final four playoff berths, Washington, 98-94.
After beating Atlanta at The Palace a week ago to snap that seven-game skid, the Pistons faced four straight such games: at Chicago, home against Milwaukee and Washington, and Wednesday’s road game with Philadelphia and Allen Iverson. They’ve now won two of the three key games and Sunday’s win makes their record 8-12, leaving them in a virtual tie with Toronto, at 9-13, for the No. 8 playoff seed.
Pretty remarkable stuff, given that through 20 games – the quarter pole, essentially – the Pistons have played 19 of them without Rip Hamilton and 17 without Tayshaun Prince. Ben Gordon missed 2½ games with a sprained ankle, returning three games ago at Chicago, but they really didn’t have the Ben Gordon that Joe Dumars targeted in free agency for Sunday’s win.
Clearly still hobbling, Gordon played just 11:36 and attempted only one shot before John Kuester yanked him for good after just four second-half minutes.
And if not for the sublime pinch-hitting job Kuester got from Austin Daye, who didn’t get off the bench in the first half, the Pistons lose to Washington – plain and simple.
Daye kept them afloat offensively in an arid stretch of the third quarter with Gordon out and Rodney Stuckey, who scored 18 in the first half and finished with an efficient game-high 25, sitting for the rest of the quarter after picking up his third and fourth fouls in the first two minutes.
“He came in and pretty much changed the complexion of the game,” Gordon said of Daye, who made all five of his shots for 11 points in 12 minutes. “He made some shots when we needed it and he got us going. He got us over the hump and we needed that. It was great for a young fella, coming in today, and making that contribution. He’s always doing things like that in practice. He’s a really talented player. The only thing that’s holding him back right now is his lack of experience. I think once he continues to get playing time and gets more comfortable out there, you guys will see more games like that.”
How significant was Daye’s contribution? Consider: From halftime to the 7:16 mark of the fourth quarter, when Charlie Villanueva’s rare four-point play gave the Pistons an 81-72 lead, the Pistons shot 10 of 30. Daye was 5 of 5; the rest of the roster was 5 of 25.
He entered the game at 6:50 of the third and on his first possession drained a 13-foot runner to put the Pistons ahead by two. A little more than a minute later, he knocked down a corner triple to break another tie. And another minute after that, he again snapped a tie with a 14-footer along the baseline. Less than a minute apart early in the fourth, Daye’s 11-footer put the Pistons up six and then his 12-foot runner boosted the lead to eight with 8:23 to play.
“When you come in and you don’t play in the first half, of course you’re a little stiff,” Daye said. “But I just tried to get a couple of good runs in and I was able to make a shot and just built confidence from there. I was just happy I got the opportunity to get put in in the second half. Coach has confidence in me to make plays at times and I’m happy I was able to produce tonight.”
“He really came through,” Kuester said. “He made some big-time plays in the flow of the game (when) we needed things to happen. His poise in being able to make big shots, whether they were off the dribble or standing still, being crowded defensive, very impressed.”
The other rookie was pretty good, too. Jonas Jerebko followed up his sparkling 16-point, seven-board performance in the Friday win over Milwaukee with a double-double – 10 points and 11 boards – and only some late desperation launches from Caron Butler allowed Washington’s All-Star-caliber small forward to finish with a 20-point night.
“Jonas did a heckuva job defensively guarding Butler,” said Kuester, whose faith in the rookie is best reflected by the team-high 38 minutes he played. “Trust me, his defense has been phenomenal. He’s really making a name for himself.”
The Pistons took the lead midway through the first quarter after a sluggish start and might have won going away if Charlie V’s perimeter shot had been a little more reliable. He had good looks all night and finished with 18 points and five assists in 37 minutes off the bench, but the triple he made on that key four-point play was his only make in eight tries.
“It was frustrating,” he said, alluding to adapting to wearing a face mask to protect the broken nose suffered in the Atlanta win. “I think I missed a lot of shots and I’m going to have to blame it on something – just blame it on the mask.”
Charlie V’s five assists, coupled with five more from Ben Wallace, are the outgrowth of a recent determination to improve ball movement. The guards have made it a point to get the big men involved and, even though they aren’t going to be consistent scorers, their ballhandling and passing skills have helped boost the offense.
It’s another example of Kuester and his team working with what they’ve got.
“Austin was great,” Villanueva said. “That’s the beauty of our team, guys answering the call when needed. We’re still battling injuries. Ben Gordon is still hurt, but he’s going out there giving us what he has. So guys are fighting – that’s always a positive sign.”
Now Kuester wants to see them go into Philadelphia and show the same type of aggressiveness and resolve as they’ve exhibited at home, and come away with a win that would cap a terrific run.
“The next challenge for us is doing this with this group on the road,” he said. “We played with a lot of passion, we understood we had to work extremely hard. But the next step in our growth is understanding, going on the road and being as focused as we’ve been at home.”
TEAM COLORS
The story of the game in Pistons red, white and blue
WHITE HOT – Rodney Stuckey scored 25 points despite sitting out the final 10 minutes of the third quarter when he picked up his third and fourth fouls in the first two minutes. He had 18 by halftime. Maybe his biggest hoop was an 18-foot jumper off a nice feed from Will Bynum with 54 seconds left to give the Pistons a six-point lead.
BLUE COLLAR – The New York Knicks made Jordan Hill the No. 8 pick in the draft. Thirty-one picks later, the Pistons took the NBA’s first Swede, Jonas Jerebko. Jerebko’s impact has been far greater. His 10 points and 11 boards and solid D on Caron Butler were critical.
RED FLAG – Ben Gordon just isn’t himself. It wasn’t just that he was limited to 12 minutes, it’s also that he was only able to get off one shot in that time. He says the ankle isn’t getting any worse, and he expects to play again on Wednesday, but Kuester might shut him down for a game or two if he doesn’t like what he sees from him in Tuesday’s practice.
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