Detroit vs. Chicago

After the beat down that Chicago took by Sheed the last time these two teams met, the Bulls were looking to get back at the Pistons, and most definitely Rasheed Wallace. The first quarter began and the Pistons started out strong. Ben made the first two baskets of the game when he hit a nifty turn-around jumper that went off the glass. Then he came back and took to the hoop to make a nice lay up. Chauncey kept up with his assisting ways as he led all Pistons with 7 points and 4 assists. Tayshaun also had 7 points as well. At the end of the first, the Pistons led Chicago 29-19.

The bench was all in now because the Pistons had a strong lead, so Flip could go with the bench earlier, and they did not disappoint. Carlos Arroyo started the benches strong play when he chased a rebound that was going out of bounds, saved it, and passed it off to Moe Evans for the score. Then Arroyo hit a nice shot and later found Dice with a nifty pass who scored on the play. Antonio McDyess also got in on the Defense when on the next possession he blocked a shot. He would finish the half with eight in the quarter. After some great play from the bench, the starters came back in and Sheed looked to cause some havoc. He soon forced a 24 second shot clock violation on the Bulls and with 17.4 seconds to go in the half Sheed hit a three like he did in Chicago just 13 days ago. The Pistons led at halftime with a score of 52-39.

The third quarter this season has been the quarter to pull away and it would be the same tonight. Rasheed alone opened the third quarter with 7 of his own straight points before anyone on Chicago could score. Then Chauncey and Sheed hit several threes to keep the Pistons running and gunning. The third quarter was highlighted by the fast break in which Rip hit Tayshaun on an alley oop for the stuff. Later in the quarter Rip joined the 3 point party as he hit a 3 point buzzer beater. The Pistons went 5-7 from three point land in the third. After the third the Pistons now had gotten their lead up to 85-58, just three shy from a 30 point lead.

No surprise here as the Pistons opened the fourth with most of their bench in, and by 9:00 minutes to go, the Pistons had a whole second or third unit on the floor, but surprisingly they were still able to control the game. Arroyo was having a heck of a night with 11 points, 6 boards, and 5 assists which enabled coach Flip to keep Chauncey on the floor for only 25 minutes which is good because the Pistons have another game tomorrow. Unfortunately the Pistons didn’t get their 30 point win, but instead won 110-82.

Here are tonight’s leaders in the major stat categories:

Scoring: Rasheed had the last laugh against the Bulls. Instead of the Bulls showing up Sheed, they got showed up by him again. He led all Pistons with 19 points in scoring.

Assists: Well it seems only fitting for Chauncey to have the most assists to follow his 19 assist game. He ended the game with 8 assists.

Rebounds: The usual we all say. Yep, you guessed it, Ben once again led all Pistons with 13 rebounds.

Blocks: Wallace*2 comes through so often, and tonight they both had 2 blocks apiece.

Steals: Ben Wallace has to share the glory again. He and Moe Evans both had 2 steals, but we like to see more than one player have more than one steals.