Archive for the 'Pacers' Category

Pistons lap Pacers

Published by Matt Watson on February 14, 2008 in Pacers. 11 Comments

The Pistons won their 10th in a row on Wednesday by sticking with what’s worked best all year: spreading the ball around. Nobody scored more than 14 points and yet they still found a way to win by 16. On the second night of a back-to-back, Flip Saunders turned to the bench early and often: none of the starters topped 30 minutes, and two of them (Rip Hamilton and Antonio McDyess) didn’t even crack 20.

With all that PT up for grabs, Amir Johnson actually led the team with almost 31 minutes, scoring eight points with a season-high nine boards and a career-high seven blocks — not to mention at least one or two more rejections that the scoring crew robbed him. He’s pure energy when he comes into the game and lately has made a habit of diving after loose balls in addition to patrolling the air space above the rim. He’s obviously still learning and could have had a better night shooting (3-8 from the field), but he proved tonight that he doesn’t need to be perfect to make an impact on this team.

Jason Maxiell was no less impressive, going 11 and 11 with a pair of blocks in just 22 minutes. The rookie backcourt didn’t have the best night shooting (they combined to go 5-18) but continue to make strides. Based on his play from the past few weeks, there’s no doubt that Rodney Stuckey deserves to play in the Rookie/Sophomore Showcase this weekend — it’s a shame he’ll miss out because of all the time he missed with his broken hand. Even Jarvis Hayes joined the fun on Wednesday, showing the ability to drive the lane as well as shoot from long-distance while putting up eight points.

I feel compelled to at least mention the Pacers but I don’t really know what to say except, wow, this team is really bad. They shot just 31.6% on the night, including a truly abysmal 3-22 from the field in the third quarter. I was looking forward to seeing Danny Granger, who’s having a solid season, and even Mike Dunleavy, who’s redeemed his career (somewhat) this year, but they didn’t do anything of note, scoring nine and 11 points, respectively. This wasn’t supposed to be a very good team in the first place, and without two starters (Jermaine O’Neal and Jamaal Tinsley) they’re pretty much doomed on most nights.

The only negative for the Pistons was that it’s the last game before the All-Star break — with 10 wins in a row, you’d like to see this team ride out their momentum instead of scattering for an extra long weekend. But since their success has been the result of solid play all-around and not spectacular play from a couple of players, there’s no reason to think they won’t re-discover their rhythm.

Pistons 96, Pacers 80 box score [NBA.com]
Ballhype Game Page

Pistons host Pacers

Published by Matt Watson on February 13, 2008 in Pacers and Previews. 40 Comments

The Pistons and Pacers play tonight at the Palace (7:30pm, FSN), though the big story the rest of the league is buzzing about is “Jason Kidd going back to the Mavericks.” ESPN’s Marc Stein has the details:

The deal — salvaged from talks on a three-way trade with Portland that developed and fizzled quickly two weeks ago — has Dallas sending 24-year-old point guard Devin Harris, veteran swingman Jerry Stackhouse, the expiring contracts of center DeSagana Diop and swingman Devean George and guard Maurice Ager to New Jersey for Kidd and forward Malik Allen.

Sources say Dallas will also add the league-maximum $3 million in cash and send its first-round draft pick this June as well as a first-rounder in 2010.

The Nets are expected to buy out Stackhouse’s contract immediately, which could enable him to re-sign with Dallas if he waits 30 days, and ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard reports that the Nets and the Mavs are likewise poised to complete a separate trade that will send swingman Antoine Wright to Dallas for a future second-round pick.

Huh. I don’t have much to say about that at the moment, other than confusion why the West is importing every aging star from the East these days. If the Mavs get Stack back, though, that’d be a coup for them.

As for me, I’m off to the Pistons game — I’ll be filing pre-game, halftime and post-game reports for HOOPSWORLD. Feel free to discuss the Kidd trade and/or tonight’s game in the comments.

Pistons pace Indy

Published by Matt Watson on January 30, 2008 in Games and Pacers. 23 Comments

From the Freep:

For the first 12 minutes Tuesday night, Rasheed Wallace looked like the late-January, hard-to-excite Rasheed Wallace. For the last 36, he looked like the Wallace who could be named an All-Star.

Wallace finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks — including a big one in the final minute — in a dominating show against the Indiana Pacers. The Pistons won it, 110-104.

“I told the staff, that’s what really pisses you off, when you see him play like that for three quarters,” coach Flip Saunders said. “Everyone knows he’s got the ability to do that night in and night out.”

He really was pretty amazing, making 10 of 18 shots, including five straight in the final 4:30 of the second quarter that brought the Pistons from down 10 to up two at the half. The Pistons had a huge advantage with Jermaine O’Neal sidelined and Wallace definitely took advantage. Like Saunders said, the trick is somehow convincing him to do this all of the time.

With Wallace dominating up front, Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton only combined for 28 points, but that was fine given the help Detroit (finally) received from the bench. Jarvis Hayes has emerged from his slump at least temporarily, shooting 5-6 from the field to finish with 13 points.

And while Jason Maxiell tallied only three points and two boards, Amir Johnson chipped in seven and six, respectively, including this impressive put-back. Yes, Johnson is still struggling with his fouls, getting whistled three times in almost 14 minutes, but for what it’s worth he only had one in his first 10 minutes of play, which certainly helped his cause to stay on the floor.

All in all, for a midweek game against a bottom-feeder in the division, this was actually a pretty enjoyable affair. It’s not often you see the Pistons score 110 points, let alone with such varied contributions — even Rodney Stuckey looked comfortable, staying aggressive for most of the game. And now, things will start to get a bit easier heading into the All-Star break, at least in terms of staying in one place. After playing 10 of their last 14 on the road, the Pistons are at home for five straight, starting with the Lakers on Thursday.

Pistons 110, Pacers 104 box score [NBA.com]
BallHype recaps and analysis

Pistons are in Indiana

Published by Matt Watson on January 29, 2008 in Pacers and Previews. 45 Comments

The first quarter is almost over, but better late than never … The Pacers are without Jermaine O’Neal and Jamaal Tinsley, but so far it hasn’t mattered. Assuming the Pistons get back in the groove, they should have a pretty decent size advantage with the Pacers forced to play small. As usual, have at it in the comments.

Pacers host Pistons

Published by Matt Watson on December 29, 2007 in Pacers and Previews. 48 Comments

The Pistons and Pacers are about to tip — here’s to hoping this one plays out exactly the same as last night. As usual, your thoughts –> comments, etc etc.

Pistons host Pacers

Published by Matt Watson on December 28, 2007 in Pacers and Previews. 45 Comments

The Pistons host the Pacers tonight — here’s to hoping they remember to watch for Jeff Foster’s leg (kudos to Ballhype and PistonsNation for the clip). You can read my pre-game, halftime and post-game thoughts over at HOOPSWORLD, and of course, leave your thoughts in the comments.

Pistons lap Pacers

Published by Matt Watson on April 4, 2007 in Games and Pacers. 2 Comments

Tuesday’s game against the Pacers had all the makings of a disaster — Indy opened the game on a 20-6 run, putting the Pistons behind the eight ball less than halfway through the first quarter. Detroit responded with a 14-2 run of their own to close the gap before the end of the period, but it was until after halftime that the Pistons finally got in gear and regained the lead.

From that point on, it was a completely different game, as Detroit dominated on both ends of the ball for long stretches, leading at one point by 23 points. That’s a 37-point swing, which is extremely hard to do when there’s another NBA team on the floor ostensibly contesting your shots and taking their own.

But Indy isn’t your average NBA team this year. No, your average team posts a .500 record, and by losing Tuesday’s game the guaranteed that they’d be finishing under .500 for the first time since … since … (checking Basketball-Reference) … 1997. They now trail Orlando by two games for the final playoff spot and seem destined to miss the playoffs for just the second time since 1990.

Tayshaun Prince was clearly the star of the game, finishing with 24 points, including 16 after halftime. From MLive.com:

The Pacers went back and fourth between zone and man-to-man defenses, but nothing seemed to work against Prince.

“They just didn’t know what to do,” Billups said. “When you get something going like that, you have to keep with it.”

You, me and every other fan of this team has railed against the all-too-frequent flat first quarters, but, despite what we saw early in the game, it seems the team is just as annoyed:

At the half, players voiced their frustration at what they described as an “embarrassing” first half.

“I had something to say. A couple other people had something to say,” Billups said. “It was embarrassing to come out like that. There’s no excuse for it.”

It was obvious early in the third the Pistons meant to put this game away, as they dominated with a 35-18 third quarter, which allowed the bench to take over for much of the fourth.

In fact, Rasheed Wallace played just two and a half minutes after halftime, though that was largely the result of a hand injury suffered early. Referred to after the game by George Blaha as a hyperextended finger, this certainly doesn’t seem like a serious ailment, though it won’t be a surprise if the team goes easy on his minutes over the next few games so he can let it completely heal before the playoffs.

As for the Pacers, Jamaal Tinsley burned Detroit early with eight assists in the first quarter, but he had just two more the rest of the way. He was purely playing the role of the distributor: as Indy Cornrows points out, he didn’t attempt a single field goal or free throw on the night.

Pistons 100, Pacers 85 box score [ESPN]
Prince sparkles as Pistons crush Pacers [MLive.com]

Pistons muscle past Pacers

Published by Matt Watson on January 29, 2007 in Games and Pacers. 1 Comment

Sunday’s game against the Pacers was three-quarters of the game that we’ve been waiting for since Chris Webber’s arrival. There were stagnant stretches (a long period in the second quarter, a frustrating stretch in the fourth) where Detroit couldn’t hit a bucket to save their lives and the Pacers took advantage with a parade to the free-throw line, but all in all the Pistons flexed their big-man muscles and imposed their will on an inferior opponent. Yes, that’s what good teams are supposed to do, but that’s what Detroit has so rarely done this past month.

Consider this: Chris Webber posted his best game yet as a Piston with 17 points and 13 rebounds, Antonio McDyess chipped in a rare double-double with 13 and 11 and Rasheed Wallace did his best Ben Wallace impersonation with five blocks, three steals and seven boards. Rasheed also scored 20 points, including 14 in a dominant third quarter in which the Pistons increased their lead to a game-high 16 points.

Jason Maxiell got into the game for nine minutes and scored only one point, but he made people notice when he damn near broke Jermaine O’Neal in half on a missed dunk attempt — he was fouled on the play and split the free throws. Dale Davis also played almost six minutes, while Nazr Mohammed picked up the DNP. Not many teams can go five deep with quality big men capable of making an impact, but until Joe Dumars thins out this front court with a trade, the Pistons can do just that and then some.

For better or worse, the Pistons’ offense has been based on perimeter jumpers this year. It’s too early to say that’s going to change for good, but for at least one game it was encouraging to see they could run the offense through the post. From the Free Press:

“We’re starting to play, offensively, with more playoff-type execution,” Saunders said, “getting the ball inside, playing off ‘Sheed, playing off Chris, letting other guys play off them and making other guys play at our tempo.

“What ‘Sheed’s finding out is when Chris is on the floor, the best defender can’t guard them both. So we have the ability to either go to ‘Sheed on a certain set, or on the same set, find a way to get Chris on the block.”

And better yet, the team isn’t trying to outsmart themselves — as the Free Press also notes, they went to Rasheed five straight times to open the third. He was just killing Troy Murphy, and there wasn’t anything the Pacers could do about it. (Not to bring the mood down, but t’s that type of mindset — sticking with what works until the other teams proves they can stop it — that probably could have won the Washington game on Friday.) It was great to watch (unless, of course, you’re a Pacers fan).

Also, a quick word about Webber. I noticed during the game that it looked like he got a couple of lucky bounces, but then he kept getting them — the ball would land in his hands without him even have to jump very high for it, and he finished with seven offensive boards. This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed it, and I think I have to agree with Ian, who suggested over IM today that he’s “compensated for his decreased athletic ability by adding an innate ability to anticipate the ball coming off the rim.”

I think we’re onto something, because that coincides with what Flip Saunders has noticed about Webber on offense — from the Freep:

Saunders compared his transformation with that of Karl Malone’s late in his career — not as flashy, but more fundamental and just as hard to handle.

“He’s not the athlete that he maybe was,” Saunders said. “But his hands are so big. He ball-fakes. He has different things to keep the defender in.”

While the front court dominated the game, the starting backcourt still came up big as Rip Hamilton (21 points) and Chauncey Billups (17) each got to the line 10 times. I was hyping up on Rip’s increased ability to get to the line the entire first month of the season, and now we’re starting to see some big-picture results. Chris McCosky of the Detroit News observes:

Richard Hamilton shot 303 free throws in 80 regular season games last year. He has shot 271 in 40 games this season.

It’s no accident — just like before last season he decided to increase his range (and went on to lead the NBA in three-point percentage), he decided this summer after speaking with Joe Dumars to work on his penetration, which inevitably leads to more free-throw opportunities. Good for him. There aren’t many players in the game who can pinpoint a single aspect of their game they want to improve and show such significant results in such a short period of time.

Some quick observations about the bench: Carlos Delfino is still doing a lot of the little things that don’t show up in the box score, but lately that’s been at the expense of anything that shows up in the box score. On Sunday, he played 12 minutes without a single point, rebound, assist or shot attempt. Lindsey Hunter is still a great energy guy off the bench, but he’s not quite the backup point guard this offense needs — he was on the floor during some of those frustrating runs in which the Pacers threatened to steal this game.

Five hundy for Flip: With the win, Flip Saunders joined some exclusive company — he now has 500 career regular-season wins, a milestone reached by only 24 coaches, including eight active ones. That’s a nice accomplishment, but I don’t think the fans in Detroit will care unless he picks up 16 more wins in April, May and June.

Pistons 95, Pacers 87 box score [ESPN]
Pistons’ one-two inside punch seals game late [Detroit Free Press]
Webber displays craftiness [Detroit News]
Pistons 95, Pacers 87: Simply Outplayed [Cornrows]

Preview:
Pistons vs Pacers (now 100% more pasty!)

Pistons vs Pacers (now 100% more pasty!)

Published by Matt Watson on January 28, 2007 in Pacers and Previews. 6 Comments

Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy

The Pistons host the new-look Indiana Pacers tonight, sans Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson but with newcomers Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy. Detroit is in a two-way tie for first with the Bulls (and the Cavs just a half game behind), but the fourth-place Pacers are hardly out of the picture just two games out — you have to hope that both teams come out fighting. (I mean, not literally… you know what I mean.)

Ball tips at 6:30 — it’s on ESPN as well as FSN. Check out Cornrows for the Indy perspective.

As usual, leave your game thoughts in the comments.

Pistons lose game and Chauncey Billups

Published by Matt Watson on December 30, 2006 in Games, Injuries and Pacers. 2 Comments

Chauncey Billups strains his calf

Ouch. From the AP:

Detroit Pistons guard Chauncey Billups is expected to miss up to two weeks with a strained right calf, which he suffered in Friday’s 93-92 loss to the Indiana Pacers.

Billups sustained the injury when he fell after hitting a 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining in the game. He was helped off the court by team officials.

“When I saw the rebound come out, I kind of went to plant and take off to go after it,” Billups said. “I felt a pop in there a little bit. When I went to take off to shoot, I was like, ‘I just can’t move.’

“So I hurt it before the shot. I knew it wasn’t a cramp because I’ve gotten cramps before and I would have been able to come back. We just have to monitor it and see.”

Everything else seems secondary at the moment, but before we examine the implications of Billups injury (ie, stop banging your head against the wall for two minutes) let’s take a moment and discuss the first 47 minutes and change of Friday’s game.

Early on, this was a game of runs. The Pistons trailed 12-2 in the opening minutes before a 28-8 run helped them to a 15-point lead. Soon after, though, Detroit’s offense fell stagnant in the second quarter, and on the heels of a 16-2 run near the end of the half the Pacers actually clawed their way back to enter the break with a slim one-point lead.

The Pistons could never get back over the hump, and for the second game in a row sloppy play down the stretch doomed them. The Pistons missed three free throws in the final two minutes — two by Antonio McDyess and one by the allegedly usually clutch Billups.

The Pistons were down four when Billups heaved up that three with 17 seconds left, but after some give and take (two free throws by Stephen Jackson, one layup by Rip Hamilton), the Pistons had Rip on the free throw line trailing by two. Make. Make. Tie game.

The Pacers had just enough time to heave the ball from underneath the Pistons basket three-quarters of the court to their free throw line, where Jermaine O’Neal tipped it to Darrell Armstrong. Almost in one motion, Armstrong recovered the ball, gathered himself, and sold Carlos Delfino on an upfake. Disaster. The Dolphin came crashing down on Armstrong, giving him two chances to break the tie from the free-throw line.

Miss. Make. Rasheed Wallace still had time to inbound the ball with a throw down court in a desperation attempt to mimic the abso-freaking-crazy play the Pacers just pulled off … but his throw was a little too much Joey Harrington and not enough Peyton Manning, landing out of bounds on the other end of the court. Game over.

So there we have it, the Pistons are on a two-game slide, dropping games they had ample opportunity to win on both nights. It didn’t happen much last year, but anyone who’s watched the NBA for very long knows that teams have weeks like this. The Pistons have gone 15-5 in their last 20, and four of those losses (Charlotte, Portland, New York, this one) are games I’m convinced Detroit either should have won or very easily could have won Not to mention those one and two-point affairs against the Hornets and Jazz in the midst of that 3-5 start — if you can get past the frustration, that’s not a bad early-season body of work.

Believe it or not, there were some positives to take from the loss. Delfino made an absolute bone-headed mistake at the end of the game, but he otherwise played very well and was instrumental in making the game so close in the first place. He played 23 minutes (including the entire second quarter) and scored nine points with seven boards. In fact, he had two boards in the final 28 seconds, including an offensive rebound (and an assist) to set up Billups’ dramatic three-pointer.

Rip Hamilton scored 21, or 30 fewer than his outburst in New York. He was limited by foul trouble and sat for much of the third quarter, which allowed Flip Murray to get into the game. No, really, Flip played in this one. I’m serious. I know it was hard to tell he was on the court at times, but take my word for it, he shows up in the box score: 10 minutes, zero points, 0-2 from the field. He did record an assist and a steal, but he also committed a turnover and two fouls. And to think, this guy is probably going to get some serious burn with Chauncey out. Long exhale.

Rasheed Wallace was held to just 21 minutes because of the flu, and the Pistons would have been better off had he skipped this game completely: the Pistons were outscored by 26 points with him on the court. For the second time in just over two weeks, he was outclassed by his former pupil, Jermaine O’Neal. Rasheed finished with six points and seven boards, while O’Neal led the Pacers with 25 points and 13 boards (including six in the first six minutes of the game).

Antonio McDyess (four points, five boards, one block in 17 minutes) and Jason Maxiell (12 points, four boards, one block in 27 minutes), on the other hand, each played well and finished +18 for the night. It’s awfully dangerous relying on the +/- stat in basketball, but we’re talking about a 44-point swing between those two and Rasheed. Oh well: hindsight = 20/20.

Like I alluded to above, the details as to how this one went down are inconsequential compared to how the Pistons are going to get by for the next 10-14 days with their All-Star point guard. And, in a cruel twist of fate, whoever starts at point guard for Detroit will be immediately compared to the cream of the crop, as reigning two-time MVP Steve Nash and the Suns arrive on Sunday afternoon for a New Years eve matinee at the Palace. The last time the Pistons faced the Suns, Chauncey outscored Nash 35 to 13 while leading Detroit to a win (which, coincidentally, was the win that officially clinched the No. 1 seed in the East for Detroit).

Pacers 93, Pistons 92 box score [NBA.com]
PopcornMachine.net Game Flow

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