Sunday Fun Day: Pistons 88, 76ers 81

65 degrees and sunny on November 8th in Detroit?  Sunday matinee victory after going 4-12 on Sunday's last year?  Can't complain and I think this will be the title of the post of every Sunday win for the rest of the season. You can thank George Blaha.

The Pistons jumped out out to a lead early on the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday and held on to it for the majority of the game.  To be exact, Detroit held on to the lead they captured early on for all, but two minutes and eleven seconds today.  

The 76ers started the 4th with an 18-9 run, taking a four point lead, but the Pistons stormed right back with buckets from Ben Gordon and Will Bynum and never looked back.  

This game had that old fashioned defensive struggle feeling to it from the get-go and it'd only be fitting if Ben Wallace was at the center of it.  Big Ben was absolutely phenomenal today, grabbing 16 rebounds, blocking three shots, and collecting three steals.  He created problems all day for the 76ers down low and was obviously a big reason Detroit outrebounded the 76ers 51-39.  

Jonas Jerebko was another key cog to the Pistons defensive efforts.  He was as active as ever and put up his first double digit scoring game with 10 points, including this amazing tip dunk (which I've embedded after the jump).  He also had five rebounds in just 22 minutes of work as the starting small forward.

Andre Iguodala led all scorers with 24 points for the 76ers on 9-16 shooting.  Ben Gordon led the Pistons with 23 points on 9-19 shooting, but didn't have a single free throw attempt until the final minutes of the game.  

For more notes/thoughts, continue reading. 

• Detroit came out after the tip off looking to get Charlie Villanueva involved early to build off of his hot fourth quarter from Friday night.  He didn't get into quite the same rhythm, but he was 7-12 shooting and finished with a solid 16 points. He continues to get more comfortable being implemented into this offense. 
• Rodney Stuckey's inconsistent play continues.  After having a strong 9-18 shooting game on Friday night, he was just 5-15 against the 76ers for 13 points.  He also had five rebounds and three assists opposite two turnovers.  I was kind of surprised to see he only had two turnovers, because it definitely seemed like he had more.  There were several passes he telegraphed and were tipped out of bounds and I'd constitute some of his shot selections to be more turnovers than missed shots. 
• Meanwhile, Will Bynum may have separated himself as the better point guard (if he hadn't already).  He had "triple-eights" as George Blaha called it -- eight points, eight rebounds, and eight assists.  Perhaps the biggest play of the game was a pretty one handed bounce pass to a cutting Charlie Villanueva who put it in for an easy two and gave the Pistons an 81-77 lead.  
• Kwame Brown was MUCH better than last game.  He was a force in his 18 minutes and finished with eight rebounds and seven points.  It's pretty easy to calculate his PER 36 -- 16 rebounds and 14 points. Yeah, I like that.
• Austin Daye was nothing spectacular, but he gave adequate minutes and the 76ers a different look.  He had seven points on 3-8 shooting in about 15 minutes.  
• Chris Wilcox did not play, coach's decision and neither did DaJuan Summers or Chucky Atkins.  I wish we could see some Summers.
• Jonas Jerebko's jaw dropping tip dunk: 
• Detroit returns to the hardwood on Wednesday against the Charlotte Bobcats as Larry Brown returns to the Palace again.  Tip off slated for 7:30 PM EST.