Motor City Sports

Well, I was right about the Bobcats scoring 75 points. I just didn’t expect the Pistons to get 98.

The game was just played just as slowly as expected, but Charlotte’s defense collapsed. The Pistons got the ball to Charlie Villanueva early and often – he scored 30 points without playing in the fourth quarter – and the three guards combined for 54 points and 19 assists.

Villanueva was the star of the night, outscoring Charlotte 18-12 as the Pistons blew the game open in the third period, but they got big efforts from a lot of guys. Ben Gordon had 22 points and eight assists, and Rodney Stuckey had 16 points and seven assists on 10 shots.

Will Bynum, though, will be the one that people remember. He had a ferocious dunk over Tyson Chandler in the first half, and then an equally spectacular open-court slam in the second half. For a guy that is generously listed at 6-foot-0, he’s got some hops. He even blocked a shot.

Ben Wallace played the ultimate Ben Wallace game. He didn’t try a shot and he didn’t score a point, but he had nine rebounds, three steals, three assists and three blocks without a turnover or a foul. He was the one player that Larry Brown praised by name after the game.

Charlotte’s best player? Nazr Mohammed, I guess. He had 13 points and eight rebounds in 15 minutes. Other than that, the Bobcats did what the Bobcats do – they had a bad shooting night and they turned the ball over 20 times in an 82-possession game. If it hadn’t been for Detroit’s continued problems with fouling too much, they wouldn’t have scored 70 points.

The Pistons have a good chance to get over .500 when they play at Washington on Saturday, but that’s followed by a stretch against Dallas, Portland, Utah, Phoenix and Cleveland. They could play fairly well and still lose five straight.