Nash might have owned the night as far as assisting goes, but this is still one pretty bounce pass from AI to Rip
“I think Grant going for it added more to the play,” Iverson said. “It would not have seemed as spectacular if he hadn’t tried to kick it. But that’s a play I’ve practiced since I was a kid when I saw Magic Johnson do it.” -DetNews
SUNS (107) @ Pistons (97) / {boxscore}
After a overtime peak the night before the Pistons roller coaster took another Sunday plunge last night against the Suns.
The Pistons can look to both sides of the ball to get an understanding as to why they lost yet another home game. The ball movement was poor, 19 assists on 85 shots. Especially the 4th quarter when there was too much one-on-one play by the Pistons often resulting in turnovers.
The defense fared no better. The Suns shot 49%. Sixty-six of their points came in the paint and another 31 via fast breaks. The Suns continually caught the Pistons with their transition pants down.
“Phoenix is a running team,” said Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey, who scored eight points. “Sometimes we run, too, as well. They just got out and just ran, ran us to the ground. I think a couple of our guys are fatigued as well from the other night, playing a lot of minutes. I guess that’s no excuse, though.” -Freep
Steve Nash (15 pts) carved the Pistons up like a surgeon. Nash’s had 21 assists, yep, more than the whole Pistons team combined. Twenty-one assists is one off from tying a career high for the Canadian dime dropper. Steve Nash being an assist off tying a career high is sort of like Christian Bale being one f-bomb short of a personal high in a tirade directed towards you. It’s pretty significant.
Nash is the first Pistons opponent to record 20 or more assists since Norm Nixon of the then San Diego Clippers got 20 in 1985. It’s actually the most assists at the Palace by any player.
Thanks to Nash’s handy work all the Suns starters, plus Leandro Barbosa all scored in double figures. Maybe that’s why, despite Nash recently turning 35, is coveted so highly that the Suns list him as the only untouchable Sun with the trade deadline looming.
Allen Iverson (25 pts on 8/22 shooting) and Rip Hamilton (27 pts on 11/19) combined for 52 in the losing effort. Rasheed Wallace added a 16 points, 10 board double-double but cooled off from the previous nights hot 3pt shooting going 2/6.
No love lost between the Pistons and Bill Cartwright – Phoenix assistant Alvin Gentry told Bill Cartwright he was the only one on the staff without a connection to Michigan. “I have a connection,” Gentry recalled Cartwright saying. “I’ve hated them since I played for the Bulls.” – espn
ALSO OF NOTE: Stoudemire tells TV WXYZ that playing for the Pistons would be “phenomenal” … The Suns swept the series against Detroit for the first time since the 1999-2000 season, when Porter played for them and Curry and Grant Hill were Piston players … This was Grant Hill’s first win at the Palace since leaving the Pistons …
The Pistons (27-21, 14-11 home) will be playing host to the Phoenix Suns (27-21) Tip off is 8:00 pm est from the Palace of Auburn Hills and will be televised nationally on 
Suns’ Snapshot
Road record: 13-11
Vs. East: 11-8
Last game: 2/06 (Fri) W 105-115 Vs. Warriors
Last 10: 4-6
Streak: Won 1
Vs. Pistons: Nov. 16th – Pistons (86) @ SUNS (104)
In some ways the Pistons will be facing their Western Conference Doppelgänger. Both teams are coming into this game with identical 27-21 records. The Suns are 12.5 game back of the Pacific leading Lakers, while the Pistons are 12 games behind the Cavs in the Central.
Both teams are being lead by head coaches who were assistants to Flip Saunders last season. The Pistons made the big move to acquire Iverson, Phoenix landed a big time scorer in Jason Richardson themselves via trade.
Like the Pistons the Suns are looking for a little consistency from their ultra talented roster. They’ve won no more than three consecutive games, but lost no more than four in a row.
Coming up on the February 19th trade deadline both teams have been the subject in big-name trade rumors with their paths intersecting. Both Phoenix and Detroit GM’s have to make the decision on whether to stand pat until 2010 or make moves to chase Boston and L.A. in their respective conferences.
ALSO OF NOTE: The Suns have lost 4 of the last 5 at the Palace … Friday Shaquille O’Neal also became the 7th NBA player to pass the 27,000-point mark … The Nov 16th meeting between the two teams is one of the Pistons 8 Sunday losses in 9 tries … Bright Side of the Sun preview … Grant Hill has never won at the Palace (0-5) after departing in ‘00 …
The fast-sinking Raptors are looking to shake things up and have talked to the Suns about trading Amare Stoudemire. But unless they decide to part with Chris Bosh, chances are slim that Raptors president Bryan Colangelo will get the All-Star power forward he drafted out of high school in 2002 when he was Phoenix’s top basketball executive. Bosh has missed the last two games with a sprained knee and his future in Toronto, beyond 2010 – when he becomes a free agent – is up in the air. So Toronto might be forced to get something for him. Detroit has been linked to Bosh in 2010, so it’s entirely possible that the Pistons will try to make it a three-way deal. Detroit’s Tayshaun Prince is being mentioned as one of the primary players who would end up with the Suns
Hate to see Tay go but I’d like this better than getting Stoudemire. Chris Bosh brings more to the table and would be a better fit.
Perhaps signaling a willingness to dismantle their roster, the Phoenix Suns have begun exchanging trade proposals with teams for All-Star forward Amare Stoudemire, league executives told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday.
How about Joe makes 2010 come early? Who’s up for some fun with trade checkers?
The overall road trip I think can be considered a success, but last night was not. {box score}
This game is why we need Antonio McDyess. Kwame Brown (10p, 3r) played well, but when he wasn’t in the game the Pistons had no inside presence. When Kwame had to leave the game because of foul troubles the Suns got inside with ease and the Pistons turned into a jump shot exclusive club. When you’re shooting under 40% as a team and the opposition isn’t you’re going to struggle.
Allen Iverson had his most trying Pistons experience going 4/17 for 9 points and 5 turnovers. On a positive note there seems to be a chemistry building between AI and center Kwame Brown.
Amare Stoudemire had himself a nice 26th birthday courtesy of the Pistons. With Shaq tossed (more on that in next paragraph) Amare picked up the slack, scoring 29 points and grabbing 11 boards.
Shaq was tossed just before the half for clobbering an airborne Rodney Stuckey (video). O’Neal was angry about a an offensive foul he received at the other end of the court so a few plays later when Rodney went hard to the hoop Shaq took out his frustrations on Stuck snatching him out of mid air like King Kong does with airplanes. The Big Sir Isaac Newton 
didn’t see it as a dirty play:
“The laws of physics say that a body in motion stays in motion. So if you have two objects meet in the air, the smaller object is going to fall much harder,” O’Neal said. “I’ve never been the type of player to take anybody out, so I obviously went to the ball. The little guy ran into a brick wall. -espn
It’ll be interesting to see what how the league feels about the hit.
GAME NOTES: Detroit News recapper … Pistons take on Cleveland on Weds … Valley of the Suns recapper …
[Box score] In a game that saw 29 ties and 30 lead changes it’s only fitting that an over-time session was needed to decide this dandy.
Clutch plays and accurate free throwing (23/28) lifted the Pistons over the Suns in OT 105-110.
The Pistons came into this one down two guards. Juan Dixon was out with a strained left calf, an injury that Juan doesn’t know how it happened, which forced the Pistons to activate Lindsey Hunter sooner than planned. Rip Hamilton, the Pistons leading scorer, was a late scratch coming up lame in shoot-around with a sore left hip. Arron Afflalo was solid filling in for Rip. Arron showed the kind of defensive prowess on Steve Nash that had more than a little to do with why Joe D selected him for this team with 27th overall pick in June’s draft.
Rodney Stuckey (13 pts) came up big for Detroit hitting big shots and making plays down the stretch. Flip Saunders has been encouraged with how Stuck has been playing as of late, especially in big games:
“I think the impressive thing is that he’s played pretty good in big games. Popcorn player, when he smells the popcorn, the big game, he seems to rise to the occasion a little bit and enjoys that stage a little bit. As I said the other day, I have been most happy as far as how he’s developed over these last three weeks.” -Pistons.com
Rasheed Wallace and Chauncey Billups were in rare form. The two of them seemed to have tapped into some throwback competitive enthusiasm for playing in a big game. As a fan it was fun to watch the two of them last night because you could see that they were having fun competing out there.
Rasheed (23 pts, 9 rbs) was dueling with Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire (33 pts). Like he usually does against the league’s elite fours, Rasheed was out there showing that when he wants to be the most dynamic player on the court he will be. Even with all Amare’s personality and aura and swagger it wasn’t enough to keep ‘Sheed from getting the better of the matchup. Rasheed didn’t outscore Amare, but his block and catch of Stoudemire’s jump shot in OT really told you all you needed to know about who got the personal win.
Chauncey (32 pts, 6 asts) also solidified his rep as a big game player. Chauncey had that look last night. The look a player gets when he knows he’s going to do something special. Starting in the fourth and into the overtime Chauncey started willing the team to victory with big drives and shots. Like Rasheed’s block Chauncey’s night had a hallmark play. With a minute left in overtime Chauncey drove to the basket and and got an and1 foul on Steve Nash that gave the lead for good. Chauncey scored 9 of the Piston’s 14 overtime points.
The Pistons completed a season sweep of the Suns. This win gives the Pistons their 7th consecutive 50 win season. One more win gives them their 6th Central Division title in 7 years.
ALSO SEE:
The Pistons (49-20) will be playing host to the Phoenix Suns (47-22) Tip off is 7:30 pm est from the Palace of Auburn Hills and will be televised locally on TV20 Detroit
Suns’ Snapshot
Road record: 21-12
Vs. East: 22-4
Last game: 3/22 (Sat) W 122-113 Vs. Rockets
Last 10: 8-2
Last game vs. Detroit: Feb 24th – Pistons (116) @ Suns (86)
The Pistons played the Suns a month ago just three games into the Shaquille O’Neal era and at that time it was looking like Steve Kerr made a Shaq-sized blunder in his young GM career trading for the Diesel, especially at today’s prices (you catch that “gas costs a lot” pun?). The Pistons embarrassed the Suns in their own gym by 30, on national TV no less.
Well, fast forward your tape deck to the present day and the Suns will not only be looking to exact some revenge on our suddenly slumping Detroit Basketball heroes, but also get their NBA best 8th consecutive win. The Suns are efficiently (49.9 FG%) putting up big numbers (111.2 ppg). The Suns currently are sitting at #3 in the West’s playoff picture.
Michael Chow / AP
[Box score] That picture pretty much sums it up, a 30 point blow out. It’s going to be hard for Phoenix to really gauge how the Shaq experiment is working out from the first three games they’ve played with him in uniform.
Great effort from start to finish for the Pistons. I would have never predicted all the rest the starters would be able to get in a game against the Suns, in Phoenix no less.
Good read on why Grant Hill decided not to return to the Pistons.
Sorry I don’t have much time for this recap, but you might also want to check out:
The Pistons (40-15) will be in Phoenix to take on the Suns (38-17) Tip off is 2:30 pm est from the US Airways Center and will be televised nationally on ABC
Suns’ Snapshot
Home record: 21-7
Vs. East: 22-2
Last game: 2/22 (Fri) W 77-85 Vs. Celtics
Last 10: 6-4
The Suns pulled the trigger probably the biggest trade in a year with a few blockbuster trades when they acquired Piston nemesis Shaquille O’Neal. Although this move was a pretty big gamble it’s what Steve Kerr & Co. felt Phoenix needed to break free from the log jam that is the Western Conference.
“The Big Cactus” has played a total of 2 dynamically different games with the Suns, a 130-124 loss to the Lakers, a 77-85 win over the Celtics. The Pistons are going to try to keep the Suns from beating the two best Eastern Conference teams in consecutive fashion today. The Pistons are capable of putting up numbers but they’re probably going to be better served slowing this one down. It’s going to be interesting to see Flip’s rotations on Phoenix’s bigs, Shaq and Amare, with no true center on the active roster.
It looks as if all the Suns are waiting for is medical clearance sometime today to complete the Shaq for Shawn Marion/Marcus Banks deal. Who seen this coming? Talk of this deal is sure to dominate most of the on air jibber jabber tonight when our Pistons take on the Miami Heat tonight at the Palace.
This will totally change the complexion of the Suns, and I’m not sure for the better either. There success comes from them being able to get up and down the court in a blur with Steve Nash orchestrating the run-n-gun. Sure Shaq is arguably the most dominant big man eve, but The Diesel has a lot of miles and some bad wheels.
We’ll get to see first hand how this shakes out Feb 24th at Phoenix, and then a month later, March 24th at the Palace. That’s assuming Shaq’s even in the lineup.
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