It should come as no surprise that the Pistons went into Indiana, where they haven't won since 2008, and got worked by an improved Pacers team to open the lockout shortened 2011-2012 season.
As head coach Lawrence Frank pointed out after the game, the game was lopsided due to the Pacers domination on the boards. The Pistons were outrebounded 53-40 (18-9 on the offensive glass) and allowed three Pacers front court players to record double-doubles. Tyler Hansbrahhhh, Roy Hibbert, and David West were those three men (who had 39 rebounds combined). Greg Monroe getting into early foul trouble certainly didn't help matters for Detroit.
At 1:05 in the second quarter, the Pacers went up by 12 on a Danny Granger three-pointer and never led by less than that the rest of the way. The Pistons made the score look somewhat respectable with an 18-6 run in the final seven minutes of the game.
Jonas Jerebko and Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons in scoring with 17 points on 11 shots each.
There are no rebounds, but there's some bullets if you jump:
- Jerebko, who looked very rusty and had trouble playing within himself during the two preseason games coming off of an achilles injury, had to be the biggest positive for the Pistons in their opener. He was 7-for-11 shooting, had a block and a steal, five rebounds, and a team-high 17 points.
- Stuckey did nice janitorial work. He finished with 17 points and six assists (three turnovers), but 10 points and two assists came in the last six minutes of the game when the Pacers backed off into a prevent D. (Good to see him hit 2-of-3 three-pointers, though.)
- Brandon Knight was benched in the third quarter for the rest of the game after jacking a bad transition three (after he hit two in a row). He finished with nine points on 3-of-9 shooting (3-of-6 on threes), four turnovers (0 assists), one steal, and one rebound. He was also blocked twice. Until Knight stops being such a rookie, Straw Man should get some added minutes.
- Ben Gordon led the team with five turnovers and 14 shots, of which he only made four. He needs to cut down the turnovers, obviously, but I'm fine with him getting into a rhythm of taking roughly 10-15 shots every game.
- I'm not fine with Tayshaun Prince at all.
- Monroe was in foul trouble all night, but still managed to finish with eight points and seven rebounds.
- Ben Wallace played just under 20 minutes and had seven rebounds and three blocks.
- After leading the Pistons in scoring for the second straight preseason, Austin Daye disappeared for the second straight regular season opener. He had zero points on Monday night.
- Both teams shot below 40-percent. Both teams hit seven threes.
- Points in the paint: Pacers 36, Pistons 28
- Box score
- Tom Gores was in attendance.
- Jason Maxiell was also reportedly in attendance.
- Charlie Villanueva was not, as he's serving his four-game suspension for
tweetingaltercating with Ryan Hollins last season. - Pistons home opener is on Wednesday against the Cavs. Can Mike Posner rebound?