Summary
This was one of those games sportscasters describe as "not as close as the score suggests."
It is precisely as close as the score suggests. The Pistons modestly rallied from a major deficit to save face against a vastly superior opponent. Detroit, adjusting for home court advantage, is about 13 points worse than the Lakers.
So everything went as planned. Kobe Bryant scored a lot of points on a lot of shots. Lamar Odom destroyed everyone without noticing. Pau Gasol is probably on the team. Let's all breathe a sigh of relief.
Key PlayersThe Piston Bench: 42 shots to score 39 points? Yeah, that about speaks for itself.
Pau Gasol: So, at what point are people going to realize he is the Laker's best player.
Greg Monroe: He had a nice little game, during which the Pistons were +8. Given the big bag of awful everyone else managed to register, he should be named the MVP of the game.
MVP
Greg Monroe
Deciding Factor
People forget how well the Lakers play on defense. Of course, this has nothing to do with Pau Gasol, who is just some random scrub who joined the team just in time to collect a title. I repeat, do not credit Pau Gasol with the fact that the Los Angeles Lakers play amazing defense. He is European and, therefore, soft.
Box Score | More Coverage
Elsewhere in the NBA
Kevin Love and Michael Beasley are having the most ridiculous statistical seasons for a bad team that we've seen in a long time. Beasley is averaging 33 ppg on 56% shooting over the last five, while Kevin Love manages to make a 24-14 night a disappointment.
The Heat beat the Suns all to hell. I guess that means they've gotten over their "issues", all of a sudden.
Robot Roll Call
Roll Call: Grant E., bugman222, Thom_not_Tom, Ra's Head, Kriz, DetroitDefense, the89oracle, DBB Diablo, Other Matt, mcflies, handsomerob1, Fadel, TripOG, Trout Jefferson, heWizard, aussiepiston, Packey, dandresden, OK from J, Boney, soufpaw, Shamir, kenshi, Taiwanese Tora, Roll The Dyess, CodyB, Laughton, tads, FunkyDonut, newfy, joejoejoe, Not a Gunslinger, alaskanpistonsfan, don'tworryaboutit, Bryan_, TDP, FS31
Total Users: 37
Total Posts: 374
Total Threads: 1
| Name | # of Posts |
|---|---|
| Thom_not_Tom | 52 |
| heWizard | 37 |
| kenshi | 31 |
| Ra's Head | 26 |
| Kriz | 24 |
| mcflies | 22 |
| dandresden | 19 |
| DBB Diablo | 18 |
| aussiepiston | 16 |
| Packey | 16 |
| Trout Jefferson | 14 |
| bugman222 | 13 |
| Grant E. | 13 |
| Other Matt | 9 |
| DetroitDefense | 9 |
| tads | 9 |
| FunkyDonut | 7 |
| Roll The Dyess | 7 |
| Fadel | 4 |
| alaskanpistonsfan | 3 |
| Laughton | 3 |
| Taiwanese Tora | 3 |
| newfy | 2 |
| OK from J | 2 |
| the89oracle | 2 |
| Shamir | 2 |
| don'tworryaboutit | 1 |
| Bryan_ | 1 |
| FS31 | 1 |
| TDP | 1 |
| Not a Gunslinger | 1 |
| joejoejoe | 1 |
| CodyB | 1 |
| soufpaw | 1 |
| Boney | 1 |
| TripOG | 1 |
| handsomerob1 | 1 |