What Happened
Will Bynum outperformed everyone on the court as the Pistons leveraged a large rebounding advantage to outpace the Miami Heat 87-83.
After leading comfortably much of the way, the Pistons left gave the Heat some breathing room, in part due to a series of curious events that had Will Bynum making two free throws, only to have Maceo Baston re-take (and miss) both of them. Also, Jonas Jerebko gave Jamaal Magloire the business, making NBA history as the first Swedish player to croonch upon an aging all-star.
The Good
Will Bynum pretty much seems like the kind of guy who will put the pedal to the metal during preseason, and tonight was no exception. It was nice, though, to see Chris Wilcox show up big in his first preseason game. Nobody has more riding on this season than Wilcox, and if he can deliver these sort of stat lines with any consistency, he'll up his stock, and add some wins.
The Bad
I know it's early, and shooting was clunky all the way around. Still Stuckey's 1-7 shooting night, accompanying a 2-11 night from long range, is a bit discouraging. Also, Ben Gordon's A/TO was 1/6 tonight. In fact, his A+FG/TO was 10/6.
The MVP
MFWB (for newcomers, this stands for Mighty Fine Will Bynum!). Before the game, he bragged about besting the likes of Dwyane Wade in pickup. Indeed, he bested Wade tonight, with 15 points in 19 minutes off seven shots.
The Taco Bell Unsung Hero
How about Ben Wallace? Stepping in for an injured (which: bad omen) Charlie Villanueva, Wallace grabbed four rebounds and hit both shots in just 12 minutes of basketball. Analyze that, John Hollinger.
The Takeaway
To my astonishment, "croonch" past spell-check muster. It means "to encroach". I am calling Jonas Jerebko "Croonch" from now on. I cannot be dissuaded on this point.