What a hilarious loss.
Down 25 in the first quarter because the Nuggets shot above 80-percent and scored 40 points, the Pistons managed to come all the way back thanks to Ben Gordon, who started in place of the injured Rodney Stuckey and took heWizard's time machine back to the 2009 playoffs. Gordon scored 45, tied an NBA record he's already hit in his career by swishing all nine of his three-pointers along the way, and put the Pistons in great position to win; all until he put them in position to lose.
Here's exclusive BG video (including one of his nine misses, the heartbreaking one):
If you made it all the way through the above video without your computer combusting, like mine did during the game, you saw Gordon miss the potential game-winner. The reason he had to attempt a game-winner is because he inexplicably fouled Arron Afflalo as Afflalo went in for a layup with the Pistons up three.
Afflalo missed the free throw to tie the game (ball don't lie!), but Greg Monroe, likely still dumbfounded by the foul, let Javale McGee push him aside and McGee put-back slammed the miss to give Denver a one-point lead. Predictably, given how the fourth quarter played out, Gordon missed his most important shot and the Pistons lost the game.
Hey! At least it's more lottery balls. More after the jump.
- Gordon on the foul [via Pistons]:
- Really, the entire fourth quarter was full of classic 2011-2012 Pistons fail blog material: 1) the quarter started with Will Bynum and Brandon Knight trading derps for the first two minutes; 2) of course, on the night Gordon drops 45, he goes 1-for-5 in the final quarter, deferring to his teammates at times when he had a shot or was so hot he should've forced a shot; 3) completely surprising, the Pistons with a chance to seal it late, Tayshaun Prince called his own number and missed. I had never seen that before since Sunday; and finally 4) that whole final five seconds part.
- I wish Gordon would've been more selfish (he had 8 assists). Gordon passed up a lot of shots and I think the Pistons were probably not adamant enough about getting him the ball at times. He was NBA Jam hot and I'm certain he would've hit if he threw one over his head from the other end of the court.
- Ben Gordon broke the Pistons' record of six consecutive threes in one game, which was shared by Terry Mills, Chauncey B-B-B-B-Billups and Chucky Atkins.
- Gordon was one off the Pistons' record for most threes in a game, set by JOE DUMARS. Oh, the irony.
- The Pistons' 14 triples were one off the team record.
- Gordon was three off his career high of 48 points.
- Does Gordon have a big shot late in the game during his time with the Pistons? I can't remember one.
- Moose had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, but didn't come up with the biggest rebound of the game. He was hard on himself after the game.
- Jonas is a good teammate.
- If the Pistons had completed the 25-point comeback, it would've been their biggest in franchise history. (H/T PistonPowered)
- Will Bynum, in his first action since February 28, was solid if you don't count the beginning of the 4th quarter. He finished with 10 points and 6 assists (one turnover).
- If you get a chance to watch the highlights on SportsCenter, watch
Damien WilkinsWalker Russel Jr. getting ready to walk it off with high knees before seeing Gordon's final shot go clank. I laughed, then I cried.
UPDATE: Here it is. Austin Daye's towel punch is the equivalent of the caddy's rock toss in Happy Gilmore.
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The Pistons are returning home ... to play the Heat on Friday. And then they hit the road again for four straight. Ben Wallace on this road trip [via]:
- Wallace had three steals vs. the Nugs.
- The last two games we've had a couple awesome game previews from members of the community -- heWizard and Fuad Shalhout. Thanks guys! If anyone is interested in doing a game preview, you can sign up here.
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"The plan was to foul after two seconds went off the clock," Gordon said. Denver looked to be attempting to find Wilson Chandler for a tying three, but when Tayshaun Prince took that option away, Afflalo improvised. "I think we had a chance to foul before Afflalo actually got the ball. Once he got the ball, I was thinking to let him kind of go. Then I heard everybody screaming ‘foul, foul, foul.’ I probably should have just stuck to my instincts or just wrapped him up so he couldn’t finish, either way. I’ve got to make a better play at the end."
"I feel like we had a chance to win every game on this trip," said Ben Wallace, whose defense again was a major component of the second unit’s mojo. "We let ’em get away, just like tonight. We had an opportunity to win the game. We let it slip away."