No Fight: Lakers 93, Pistons 81

About three weeks ago Lakers forward, Ron Artest came out and said that he wanted to fight Ben Wallace.  He quickly retracted his comments and said that he'd like to fight him after they retire, in a ring, and just for show.  There was no fight on Sunday night. 

No fight at all. 

The Pistons looked alive for maybe the first few minutes of the game, when they jumped out to a 9-4 lead, but were completely dominated the rest of the way by the defending champs.  And to think it was the Lakers, not the Pistons, playing their last game of a five game road trip and arrived in Detroit around 5 AM Sunday morning due to the snow storms.

Aside from the Pistons being flat out inferior to the stacked Lakers team, their excessive turnovers played a major role in the way this one played out.  Detroit turned the ball over 22 times in the game, seven of which came in the first quarter to help LA build a 31-19 lead after the first 12 minutes of play.  

The Pistons' obligatory fourth quarter spurt (17-4 at one point) was enough to make the score look somewhat respectable in the end, but it was far from sufficient in digging the Pistons out of what was, at one time or another, a 21-point hole. 

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 28 points. He also had five steals.  Ron Artest had 14 points, nine assists, six steals, and five rebounds.  The Pistons surprisingly shot better than the Lakers from the field (by 0.3%) and were led by Rodney Stuckey who finished with 16 points.  

This is Detroit's fourth straight loss, their second losing streak of four or more games this season.  They return to action on Tuesday in Charlotte vs. the Bobcats.  

A few more thoughts after the jump: 

• Charlie V went without the mask and shot just 2-9 today, good for only six points.  
• Jonas Jerebko did all he could offensively, helping to carry the load with 15 points.  In his post-game interview, while explaining the loss, he slipped and said, "shit happens."  Better that then the 'Bad Santa' version of the quote.  Either way, Fox Sports Detroit was quick to clip his interview short.  
• The nagging ankle injuries are really bringing out the worst in Will Bynum.  He had yet another poor game (2-7 shooting), which included SEVEN turnovers.  At this point he might be hurting the team more than helping it, so maybe he should just sit until he's 100% healthy.
• Pau Gasol's middle name is Floppy.  His acting on the court is a lot better than it is off the court, though. 
• Sadly, for the rep' of the Eastern Conference, the Pistons are still the 8th seed if the playoffs were to start right meow.  For comparative purposes, Detroit would be 14th in the Western Conference.  Yuck.
• Box score 
• Highlights: