The Detroit News (Chris McCosky) reports: As you might expect, Rasheed Wallace was in good spirits Tuesday after watching his North Carolina Tar Heels win the national championship Monday. “Once I found out (Michigan) State had beat UConn on Saturday — cakewalk for us,” he said. “I told everybody we’d be up by a minimum of 12 points by halftime and the only prediction I didn’t get right was I said we’d win by 25 points. We won by 17. I’ll take that. We are No. 1.”
Category: Detroit Pistons Blog
Pistons blog – Detroit Pistons blog. A great Pistons news basketball blog
Bynum 26 in 4th, Pistons beat Bobcats 104-97
The AP reports: Will Bynum scored a franchise-record 26 points in the fourth quarter to lead Detroit to a 104-97 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday that put the Pistons a step closer to locking up the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Bynum scored the final 13 points for the Pistons and finished with a career-high 32 points, and also had seven assists. He made all six of his field-goal attempts and went 14-for-16 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter… Bynum picked up the scoring load for Richard Hamilton, who led Detroit with 13 points before he was ejected at the end of the third quarter when he picked up his second technical foul… D.J. Augustin led Charlotte with 22 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter. Raymond Felton added 18, while Boris Diaw and Emeka Okafor added 14 points each. Okafor pulled down 16 rebounds. Prince added 14 points for Detroit, while Kwame Brown and Antonio McDyess each grabbed nine rebounds.
76ers clinch playoff spot with win over Pistons
The AP reports: Wanting to clinch a playoff berth at home, Philadelphia coach Tony DiLeo relied on Andre Iguodala and Andre Miller, and they came though for the 76ers in a 95-90 win over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday. Playing the entire second half, Iguodala scored 16 of his season-high 31 points, and Miller added a triple-double with 21 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, and the 76ers advanced to the playoffs for the second straight season… Rodney Stuckey scored 23 points for Detroit, and Kwame Brown added a season-high 15 in the loss, which combined with Chicago’s win over New Jersey, put the Pistons a half-game behind the Bulls for the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference.
Allen Iverson out for rest of season
Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that guard Allen Iverson will miss the remainder of the season. The all-star guard missed 16 games between February 27 and March 28 after exiting a game at New Orleans with a sore back on February 25.
“After talking with Allen and our medical staff, we feel that resting Allen for the remainder of the season is the best course of action at this time,” said Dumars. “While he has played in our last three games, he is still feeling some discomfort and getting him physically ready to compete at the level he is accustomed to playing this late in the season does not seem possible at this point.”
Iverson returned to action on March 29 versus Philadelphia and scored eight points with two assists and two rebounds in 21 minutes. In his three games back since the initial injury, he has averaged 7.7 points, 1.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 18.7 minutes per game.
Acquired by the Pistons from Denver on November 3, the 6-foot-0 guard has appeared in 54 games this season (50 starts) averaging 17.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 36.5 minutes per game.
Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.
Nets finally win, beat Pistons 111-98
The AP reports: Devin Harris had 19 points and 11 assists, and the Nets snapped a five-game skid with a 111-98 victory over the sluggish Pistons on Wednesday night. “I think this says when we play the right way we’re competitive and also that we haven’t mailed it in,” said Nets guard Keyon Dooling, who was inserted into the starting lineup and responded by matching his season high with 23 points… “It’s very surprising. Tonight was a game that we had to get,” said Richard Hamilton, who led the Pistons with 29 points… Brook Lopez added 19 points on his 21st birthday, fellow rookie Ryan Anderson had 14 and Vince Carter 12 for New Jersey… Rodney Stuckey, Tayshaun Prince and Walter Herrmann scored 16 points for Detroit… Allen Iverson scored four points on 1-of-8 shooting and handed out four assists, but at times he looked out of control, particularly in the second quarter.
Cavaliers win 13th straight, beat Pistons 79-73
The AP reports: LeBron James made two crucial three-point plays down the stretch and finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds as the Cavaliers won their 13th straight game, 79-73 on Tuesday night over the Detroit Pistons, who gave the NBA’s best team all it could handle… With the win, Cleveland improved to 36-1 at home, won the season series from Detroit for the first time in 11 years, and became just the sixth team in NBA history to win 16 games in one month… Richard Hamilton scored 13 and Allen Iverson 11 for the Pistons, who were held to 35 percent shooting and shot off their mouths afterward… Delonte West scored 12, Anderson Varejao added 11 and several hustle plays, and the Cavaliers held off the Pistons in one of those old-school Eastern Conference street fights.
Iverson returns, Pistons beat Sixers 101-97
The AP reports: Tayshaun Prince scored 21 points, Rodney Stuckey added 16 points and Allen Iverson returned from a back injury to help the Detroit Pistons beat the Philadelphia 76ers 101-97 on Sunday and gain ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Iverson, who missed 16 games, scored eight points in 22 minutes as Detroit pulled within 1 1/2 games of Philadelphia for sixth place in the conference. Philadelphia’s Samuel Dalembert left in the first quarter with a leg injury and didn’t return. Richard Hamilton had 14 points and seven assists for the Pistons, and Antonio McDyess scored 13. Andre Iguodala had 24 points and Thaddeus Young added 22 for the 76ers.
Good Arenas game, but Pistons beat Wizards 98-96
The AP reports: Gilbert Arenas finished with 15 points on 3-for-12 shooting and 10 assists in 30 minutes, helping the Wizards rally from a 15-point, second-half deficit. After the two failed comebacks, he had been determined to make sure he was completely healthy before trying again, especially with Washington mired in last place in the East… Richard Hamilton, back after missing six games with a left groin injury, scored 16 of his 31 points in the third quarter for the Pistons, who broke a three-game losing streak and steered their tenuous playoff hopes—at least temporarily—back in the right direction… Antawn Jamison scored 21 points to lead the Wizards. … Butler returned after missing seven straight games with a sore left hamstring.
Bryant scores 30, Lakers beat Pistons 92-77
The AP reports: Kobe Bryant scored 30 points and helped the Los Angeles Lakers beat Detroit 92-77 Thursday night, snapping a nine-game losing streak on the Pistons’ home court… At this point, the once-mighty Pistons simply are hoping to make the playoffs. They were without Allen Iverson (back), Richard Hamilton (groin) and Rasheed Wallace (calf) against the Lakers… Detroit reserve Will Bynum had career highs with 25 points and 11 assists and helped his banged-up team outscore the Lakers 30-14 in the second quarter to lead 42-39… Detroit’s Antonio McDyess had 14 points—making him its only double-digit scorer other than Bynum—and 12 rebounds.
NBA rule change on too many players on court
The NBA Board of Governors voted to approve a playing rules change in regards to “too many players on the court”, which will take effect beginning Friday, March 27.
Under the playing rules change, when a “too many players on the court” violation is called, a technical foul will be assessed against the offending team and the non-offending team will have the option of either accepting or nullifying the game action that occurred during the violation.
Option 1 — Accept Game Action
The non-offending team can opt to ACCEPT all play that occurred during the violation, including any points scored, with no adjustment of the game clock.
Option 2 — Nullify Game Action
The non-offending team can opt to NULLIFY all play that occurred during the violation, other than any acts of unsportsmanlike conduct or flagrant fouls or any points scored from free throws as a result of such actions.
Under this option, following the technical foul, the game clock would be reset to the time when the ball was put into play with too many players on the court and, depending on how the ball was originally put into play, play would resume in accordance with the following:
1) If the original play commenced with a throw-in, then the ball would be returned to the original throw-in spot and play commenced with a throw-in.
2) If the original play commenced with a missed free-throw attempt where the ball remained in play, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at center court between any two players who were on the floor at the time play was suspended due to the violation.
3) If the original play commenced with a jump ball, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at the original jump-ball spot between the same two players who participated in the original jump ball.