Mozgov Square Garden: Knicks 124, Pistons 106

Ben Gordon dropped 35 points on 12-21 shooting (7-11 from beyond the arc), Greg Monroe added 15 points with 17 (!) rebounds, and the Pistons shot 55% from three as a team (after shooting 83% in the first half). As Mr. Keith Langlois said, it would've been nice to celebrate those in victory. 

The Pistons went cold in the 4th quarter (4-13; 31%), though, and refused to begin playing defense when they needed it most. In turn, they were outscored 33-15 in the quarter and 124-106 for the game -- an 18-point loss despite being tied going into the 4th. 

These colossal collapses happen all too often and it's tiring. Literally, I fell asleep in the 4th quarter for a few minutes. When I was awake, I was acting out Greg Monroe's post-game tweetcronym:

The Knicks got unsurprising big games from Amar'e Stoudamire (33 points) and Danilo Gallinari (29 points), but some guy named Timothy Mozgov (who spells his first name how a four-year-old would say it -- Timofey) had a coming out party thanks to injuries and early foul trouble to Ronny Turiaf. The seven-foot-one Russian Mozgov scored 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in 40 minutes. He hadn't seen a single minute since January 9th and hadn't racked up 40 minutes combined in his last eight games played. Not a bad game for the rook to get the taste of Blake Griffin's dunks (amongst other things) out of his mouth.

If the Pistons are going to hang around and make a serious playoff push, they need to figure out how to not waste these very winnable games. As it stands now, they're four back of the eight-seed and on a three-game losing streak but could easily be basking in a two-game winning streak.

More after the jump, GE!

• Ben Gordon, who grew up in New York, was nicknamed "Madison Square Gordon" for his big performances at the Garden, including being named Big East tournament MVP while he was at U-Conn. That explains the punny title.
• This is only the 2nd time this season Gordon has taken 20-plus shots. He scored 25 points (and had seven rebounds) in the other.
• Despite Gordon's offensive explosion, he only shot four times in the 4th quarter (2-4 and two free throws) and was a team worst minus-17 for the game.
• Kuester had a quick hook with Austin Daye tonight, who saw just 10 minutes of action. In those minutes, he had a couple turnovers and was 0-3 shooting. He had been averaging 30 minutes per game in the past five games. After the game, a disappointed Daye vowed to hit the gym as soon as the team got home.
• This allowed DaJuan Summers to see some run. He played 12 minutes and picked up his first assist of the season.
• Langlois predicted a 124-120 Pistons win after the first half due to the Pistons scoring 31 and 31 opposed to the Knicks 30 and 30. Not a bad guess if the Pistons had stuck to the script.
• Monroe's 17 rebounds is a season (and career) high for him. His previous high was 15 at Minnesota on Dec. 10. 
• Good to see Tayshaun Prince taking 17 shots and only making six. So much fun.
• Rip Hamilton's name was nowhere to be seen on the ESPN box score. At least the reasons for Ben Wallace and Rodney Stuckey's DNPs were specified.
• This from the Associated Press recap: 

The Knicks wanted to play fast, with the "pace" written all over their locker room board. But Detroit had no problem keeping up, shooting 60 percent in the first quarter and staying there until a little more than 2 minutes remaining in the half.

• Pistons were shooting 55% (36-66) going into the 4th quarter. They were averaging 22 shots per quarter and, as you know, only registered 13 in the 4th.
• Box score
• Roll Call: TDP, -PS-, dandresden, Roll The Dyess, garrettelliott, JumpingBlob, Kriz, Toledo Joe, Grant E., Packey, alaskanpistonsfan, bringbacktheworm28, need4detroit, don'tworryaboutit, The Boourns, heWizard, gordbrown, Trout Jefferson, W. Stones, Mike Payne, Laughton, curlyfries, Taiwanese Tora, Tenbatsu, kenshi, King Henry the 2nd, V., Ol Dirty Harry, Biz Markie Moon, Shinons, tads, JoeDip, Fadel, bearded thundar, Prevenge

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  Name	# of Posts
  The Boourns	101
  -PS-	96
  dandresden	70
  garrettelliott	43
  Trout Jefferson	41
  Mike Payne	34
  bringbacktheworm28	27
  Biz Markie Moon	25
  Packey	20
  Kriz	18
  kenshi	16
  Roll The Dyess	15
  W. Stones	11
  heWizard	10
  Shinons	8
  Taiwanese Tora	8
  Laughton	8
  tads	7
  Fadel	5
  alaskanpistonsfan	5
  need4detroit	5
  TDP	4
  Tenbatsu	4
  gordbrown	4
  JumpingBlob	3
  JoeDip	1
  Prevenge	1
  Toledo Joe	1
  bearded thundar	1
  King Henry the 2nd	1
  don'tworryaboutit	1
  curlyfries	1
  V.	1
  Ol Dirty Harry	1
  Grant E.	1