After a disappointing loss to the Utah Jazz, the Pistons looked to rebound against the team that mocked them via video before the game started the last time these two teams met. Detroit started out fast. Every starter seemed to be in sync. Rip was making his shots, Sheed made a three, and even Ben got in the mix. When the first quarter was over Rip led the team with 13 points, but it was Chauncey’s stats that blew most people away. Chauncey already had 8 assists and 7 points at the end of the first. With the final seconds ticking down in the first the Pistons led the Sacramento Kings 36-27.


The second quarter was about to begin, and most of the bench had come in for the Pistons now. Including Carlos Delfino who is now starting to get more playing time, which he deserves because of his play against the Clippers three days ago. Despite the Pistons 36 first quarter they started the second quarter ice cold due to the Kings zone defense. The second unit failed to produce any points and the Pistons overall as a team did not score until 4 minutes to go in the half, but the starters, led by Tayshaun Prince, went on a run, and ended the quarter with a spurt. Tayshaun had seven points to lead them out of their eight-minute drought. At the end of the half the Pistons led 56-48.


The third quarter began and the Pistons were looking to put the game away. Chauncey was looking to add more assists to reach his career high. Chauncey and Rip owned this quarter with Mr. Big Shot dishing out the assists and with Rip nailing the jumpers. Rip had another double figure quarter just like he did in the first and finished the third with 13 more points. Chauncey on the other hand was dishing out assists like crazy and he had 14 assists, which was a career high and it was only the third quarter. Meanwhile Ben Wallace was getting back to working the boards, because he was already in double figures for rebounding. At the end of the third the Pistons led the Kings 83-75.

You would think that if the zone worked so well in the first half, why wouldn’t the Kings use it in the second. That seemed to be the story of the fourth, because Chauncey was draining all his threes. Rip kept scoring on his mid range jumpers and was having another magnificent quarter. Before the coach of the Kings finally switched to the zone it was too late, because the Pistons had gotten their lead to 18 at one point. Chauncey was one shy of twenty assists before Flip took him and the rest of the starters out to let the bench get some playing time. The Pistons got back to their winning ways by dismantling the Kings with a 109-98 victory.

Here are the stat leaders for tonight’s game:

Scoring: Tonight Rip Hamilton gets the scoring honors, but was challenged by Chauncey’s 28 points. Rip led everyone in scoring, including Sacramento, with 36 points.

Assists: Tonight was the best passing night in Chauncey Billups career when he finished with 19 assists. Heck this may have been his best game ever considering the fact that he had 28 points, 19 assists, and 6 three point field goals made out of 8.

Blocks: Well, despite the scare in the first when Ben had to go out with a thumb injury, he was able to come back and still play with aggressive defense. He finished the game with five blocks, which is what we love to see from Ben.

Rebounds: After that despicable performance against the Utah Jazz when Big Ben only had 6 rebounds, he had 17 in this game.

Steals: For the first time since I started writing about the Pistons games Rasheed does not lead in the steals category. Tonight it belongs to Ben, and it seems that Ben got so frustrated at his performance in Utah that he wanted to make a statement and he did. Ben finished the game with four steals.