The Detroit Pistons dropped their home opener Friday, to the Oklahoma City Thunder 91-83. Playing without shooting guard Richard Hamilton they continued their solid defense but faltered offensively in the second half.
Ben Gordon, starting in place of Hamilton, led the Pistons offense with another strong performance, scoring 25 points to go with his seven boards and four assists.
On defense the Pistons continue to get much better than expected play out of a rejuvenated Ben Wallace. Wallace who had 12 rebounds, two blocks, and three steals matched Gordon’s plus/minus stat with plus three. The two Bens were the only Pistons on the positive side of that stat.
Detroit’s offense looked fluid in the first quarter as they shot 55 percent. Rodney Stuckey and Gordon were both able to get good penetration. Stuckey had a good game despite shooting a poor percentage, racking up 21 points, five boards, and 12-13 free throws.
The one thing that really helped the Pistons in this quarter though was their three point shooting, making three out of a total of five in the first. Will Bynum capped off the quarter nicely with a buzzer beater, putting the Pistons up 24-16.
Austin Daye made his debut as a Piston in the second, although it was very brief, lasting only one minute and amassing only a foul in that time.
One of the key successes of the second was the defense of Stuckey on Thunder guard Russell Westbrook. Besides Westbrook burning him on a pick and roll halfway through the second, Stuckey managed to keep him out of the lane, forcing perimeter shots.
The other key success was Tayshaun Prince’s defense on Kevin Durant. Princes most prominent play was his lock-down of Durant to cause a shot clock violation with three seconds left in the half. Prince also led all Pistons in minutes played at 43.
The Thunder came out in the third quarter and played some very scrappy defense, causing the Pistons to miss their first few shots. It didn’t help the Pistons case either that the offense looked more stagnant in the second half, having to rely more on one-on-one basketball.
Nenad Kristic also really hurt the Pistons, often getting away from Detroit’s big men to get an open jump shot. He finished with 14 point and five rebounds in 23 minutes.
The Thunder opened up the fourth with a 62-61 lead. They orchestrated this comeback without having to hit a three point shot until the last two minutes of the game, which might raise some concern for the Pistons.
With three minutes left in the game and the Pistons down by six Gordon tried to put the offense on his back. He came close drawing a few fouls and answering a triple by Thabo Sefolosha with one of his own.
It wouldn’t be enough though, as Durant had an answer of his own 20 seconds later with a three. Durant finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds on 8-19 shooting.
The Pistons played great perimeter defense and also protected the paint well, but Oklahoma City was able to use their mid-range game to make up for it. The Thunder also used their quickness on defense to get stops which allowed them to control the pace of the game.
Through the first two games, defense has not really been an issue for the Pistons, and their offensive troubles will probably get better with Hamilton back in the lineup.
Detroit plays the Bucks tomorrow at Milwaukee, look for Charlie Villanueva to break out of his slump against his former team.
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