If nothing else this was a entertaining game to watch. The second unit got a chance to strut their stuff and although they gave up a sizable lead in the third quarter there were still plenty of good things to be excited about. {box score}
The goal for this game was to get the younger Pistons some extended minutes. Curry gave Rip and Rasheed the night off and Dice, Chauncey, and Tayshaun didn’t see any second half minutes.
The Pistons first unit gave the young guys a 24-15 cushion after one period of play. Eleven of those first quarter points came from Tayshaun Prince. It’s good to see him finally scoring the ball after struggling in the first six preseason games. Chauncey, who like Tay didn’t play after the first quarter, led the Pistons 5 assists.
The second and third quarter saw the Hawks and Pistons exchanging runs. The Hawks peeled and 14 point Pistons third quarter lead down to 3, 68-71, by the end of the quarter which set up and back and forth duel in the fourth quarter with the Hawks prevailing by one point. The Pistons would have gotten a better look at a game winner had Alex Acker called a time out after grabbing a Hawks miss, but instead settled for a hurried last second shot by Stuckey beyond the 3-point arc.
Arron Afflalo, who started in place of Rip Hamilton, led the Pistons’ scoring with 15 points on 7/13 shooting to go with 6 rebounds. Eleven of Afflalo’s 15 came in the Pistons third quarter run. Arron was also solid defensively as usual.
Alex Acker made the most of his 19 minutes last night. Acker scored 11 points on 5/6 shooting to go with 5 boards.
Mike Curry didn’t like all the points for Atlanta down low. Despite not having Rasheed, Kwame Brown, limited Dice and Amir, M.C. did like his team getting outworked in the paint 54-32:
“Fifty-four points in the paint, I don’t care what we’re playing, that’s unacceptable for how we’re going to play basketball,” Curry said. “That just shows that we have some more work to do.” - milve
Two guys that didn’t play as well as I’m sure they’d have liked to are Amir Johnson and Rodney Stuckey. Amir couldn’t stay out of foul trouble. Amir managed to collect 6 fouls in just 15 minutes of play. Stuckey just had a real bad shooting night going 3/18. We know Hot Rod is better than 16% shooter, but I have a feeling fouls might be an ongoing problem for Amir Johnson.
Flip Murray (18 points, 9 boards) can never be accused of not having excellent one-on-one skills. Flip got to the rack whenever he felt like it. The other former Piston, Mo Evans, also had a good Palace return with 14 points which included this sick dunk over Cheikh Samb. The irony of that dunk was that the two were traded for each other on Draft Day ‘06.
GAME NOTES: … Walter Sharpe fouled out in 15 minutes of play … Maxiell: 13 points, 8 boards … Pistons finish up preseason play with a 6-2 record … Peach Tree Hoops recap … Kwame’s strained shoulder kept him out again, but he is expected to be ready for the Oct. 29th opener … Wallace’s shooting doesn’t bother him …
