I was only able to watch two quarters last night before I got sick to my stomach and went to bed early. Granted, even if the 51-34 halftime score in favor of the Spurs was reversed I still would have turned off the TV -- I officially have "that thing" which is "going around."And still do -- I'd like to kill the man who invented the "flu." According to the box score the Pistons looked a bit better in the second half, though not enough to actually matter.
The sad part is that the Spurs were supposed to be the team without any energy last night -- not only was this the last leg of an eight-game road trip, they didn't even arrive in Detroit until 4am due to some travel issues.
Of the portion of the game that I did see, the Pistons had some issues defensively but also couldn't buy a bucket to save their lives: they shot just 36% in the first and 25% in the second. Tayshaun Prince shot 1-8 for the night and Rasheed Wallace just 5-15. As a whole, this isn't a team that struggles to find quality shots, so I'm not going to over-analyze the performance. As Ian Casselberry said about the game over at Sweaty Men Endeavors:
There's a scene in the movie State and Main where Alec Baldwin's character smashes a car while out on a bender with an underage girl. What does he say when he gets out of the totaled vehicle? "So, that happened."
That's pretty much how I felt after Detroit's 90-81 loss to San Antonio. (I'm referring to the quote, by the way - not the drunk driving with teenagers. Just thought I'd clarify.) Okay, that happened. Let's move on to the All-Star break and try to forget this game ever took place.
Done and done. (And thanks for the post title, Sweaty Men -- the flu has killed my creativity.)
Saunders lashes out As if facing one of the top teams from the Western Conference wasn't bad enough, the Pistons flustered early by uneven officiating. From the Free Press:
The officiating unnerved the Pistons early. In the second quarter while down 10, the Pistons saw a Spur travel; the officials didn't call it. The possession continued, and Elson hit a jumper and got a shot at a free throw. He missed that, but the Spurs got the rebound, and Ginobili hit a three-pointer.
So in the Pistons' mind, that no-call cost them five points. Couple that with missed lay-ups and dunks, and frustration reigned.
"Every year we go to our league meetings," Saunders said, "and make a point of emphasis about traveling. They might as well let people do what they want because we don't call traveling. It becomes somewhat frustrating."
Spurs 90, Pistons 81 boxscore [ESPN]
GameFlow [PopcornMachine.net]
When NBA players check out for vacation early [Sweaty Men Endeavors]
Pistons lack fundamentals, end seven-game win streak [Detroit Free Press]