The Pistons looked like a team playing their second game in two nights on Wednesday. They had the Bucks on the ropes several times, but they just couldn't deliver the knockout punch to put the game officially out of reach. As such, the Bucks took the Pistons to overtime when Michael Redd caught fire in the fourth by scoring the final seven points of regulation.
The Bucks then jumped out to a four-point lead in the extra frame, but Chauncey Billups, who spent most of the night distributing the ball (he had 15 assists), went on a scoring binge. He had 11 points in overtime to finish with 23 for the game. Did you see Tayshaun Prince's line? I swear, it's one of the ugliest you'll see by any player all year: four points off 2-8 shooting with one rebound, two assists and a steal in 42 minutes. I'd have been disappointed if Mo Evans did that in 20 minutes, let alone Tay in over 40. Thank goodness for Rip Hamilton -- he was simply on fire almost the entire game, finishing with 35 points on 15-23 shooting.
The way I see it, the Pistons are really missing Carlos Delfino, who had been offering a nice burst of energy and a solid scoring touch in recent games before missing the last two games with the flu. Mo Evans and Antonio McDyess have been solid off the bench, but Delfino gives the team an added dimension on offense.
Unfortunately, the game was too close for any of the rookies to get into the game. Not that it would have mattered too much, as Amir Johnson was inactive in favor of Alex Acker tonight. Nothing against Acker, but I want to see Johnson play after seeing what he's capable of doing on Tuesday.
As for the Bucks, Redd is some kind of scoring machine. He was 5-6 from three-point land and 17-26 from the field to finish with 41 points, not to mention nine boards and eight assists. His scoring average has climbed each year he's been in the league, and he's now putting up over 25 a night. Too bad he's a former Buckeye, or he could be on my team any day.
I like to think of myself as an educated basketball fan, but here's a newsflash that made my jaw drop: Toni Kukoc is still in the league, as is Ervin "not that one" Johnson. I just checked: they're 37 and 38, respectively. If you asked me before the game, I'd have told you they retired at least a year or so ago. Shows what I know.