http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/DETCHI_ ... recap.htmlTAKE FIVE : A five-point dissection of the Pistons’ second straight loss. 1. WINDY CITY BLOWOUT - A few days ago, the Pistons had designs on moving up from the No. 7 seed to sixth or even fifth. But Sunday’s loss to No. 5 Miami and West Coast wins by No. 6 Philadelphia over the Lakers and Portland made that quest a long shot. Now they’ve got to look over their shoulder at the teams creeping up behind them. Chicago, sitting at No. 8, didn’t exactly creep up on them Tuesday night. The Bulls took an early 11-point lead, saw the Pistons come back to take narrow leads in both the second and third quarters, then blew them away starting with a 10-0 run midway through the third. The Bulls pushed their lead to 19 midway through the fourth quarter before a late Pistons push, but the win puts the Bulls just two games behind the Pistons in the loss column with Chicago having the advantage of a distinctly more favorable schedule from this point forward. “We got in trouble when we got to the point where we couldn’t score,” Michael Curry said. “They got out in some transitions. A few turnovers and they were able to score. The game got away from us at that time.” The Pistons again were without their injured trio – Allen Iverson missed his 14th straight game, Rasheed Wallace his eighth straight and Rip Hamilton his fifth. But the Bulls weren’t at full health, either, missing starters Derrick Rose, the point guard and presumptive Rookie of the Year, and small forward Luol Deng. Chicago, despite having played the night before at Washington, appeared the more energetic team out of the gate, taking a 22-11 lead and beating the Pistons both to loose balls and downcourt after Detroit misses. But Will Bynum – the star of the game for the Pistons – came on late in the first quarter and the Pistons closed on a 7-0 run to pull within four. Chicago scored the first five points of the second half to break a 43-all halftime tie, but the Pistons came back one more time to take the lead at 51-50. That’s when the Bulls went on their 10-0 run to grab the game by the throat.
TEAM COLORS : 2. White Hot – With Rose out of the lineup, the Bulls turned to the man he displaced at point guard, Kirk Hinrich. Making only his second start of the season, Hinrich was instrumental to Chicago’s fast start, hitting three early triples. He wound up playing a season-high 45 minutes, made half of his six 3-point attempts and contributed 24 points, eight assists and three steals as Chicago’s starting backcourt dominated Detroit’s statistically. “I think he played great and led the team,” Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. “We were a little stagnant offensively and he got us going with his leadership. In no way is Kirk a backup point guard. But when he’s coming off the bench, we’ve got the best backup point guard in the league. It’s great to have a guy like that on this team.” 3. BLUE COLLAR – When Arron Afflalo came out shooting blanks, Curry turned to Bynum, and the effect was immediate. Bynum came on with 3:36 left in the first quarter, just after the Pistons had fallen 11 back, and picked up the pace after a sluggish start. Bynum, playing in his hometown before about 30 family and friends, gave the Pistons eight points, five assists and four boards in the first half alone. He finished with 20 points, nine assists and two steals in 34 minutes and finished 10 of 16. “It was good to play in front of my family, but I’d rather score two points and win than how I played today and lost,” Bynum said. Bynum beat defenders consistently off the dribble to get into the paint, but also displayed his improving range and consistency on his jump shot. Shortly after entering the game late in the first quarter, he hit a 20-footer off the inbounds pass when the ball was awarded back to the Pistons with only one second on the shot clock.
4. RED FLAG – A week ago, Afflalo got thrown into the starting lineup in a back-to-back set against Dallas and Houston when Hamilton’s groin injured flared up again and responded with great aplomb, scoring 16 and 24 points and giving the Pistons some sorely needed 3-point shooting with four makes each game. But he missed six shots in his 13:34 of playing time in the first half, including two wide-open corner triples, and traveled on another occasion when he caught the ball in the same corner and passed up the shot in favor of a fake and drive. He wasn’t alone in being a non-contributor. Jason Maxiell played 16 minutes, didn’t score and – worse – didn’t dent the rebound column. Curry finally yanked him and went with Amir Johnson for the last nine minutes, Johnson coming up with six boards and two blocks. “We can’t have a game in which we played eight players and three guys don’t even play OK tonight,” Curry said. “Everyone has to play really (well), especially when you’re shorthanded. We didn’t do that.” THE LAST CALL : A little perspective on the fifth loss in six games. 5. WOBBLED AND WOOZY – Have the Pistons been worn down finally by their shorthandedness? That’s what it looked like against the Bulls, two days after a particularly deflating loss to Miami – a game the Pistons led until the final two minutes on a day they left The Palace feeling robbed by the non-call on Rodney Stuckey’s last-possession drive on Dwyane Wade. The schedule doesn’t do them any favors, either. The Lakers come to town Thursday, then after an apparent breather Saturday at Washington, they come home to face red-hot Philadelphia followed by a trip to East-leading Cleveland to close March. As much as the Pistons would love to rush Hamilton, Wallace and Iverson back into the lineup, they have to be wary of those players, egged on by the urgency of the situation, attempting to come back too soon and reaggravating injuries that could then linger into the postseason. “The focus is to keep grinding,” Curry said. “This is another tough week. We have four games this week with the Lakers at home and then Washington and Philly. We have to take care of this week. Got to get some guys back off the injured list.” It’s a tough balancing act, made tougher by the prospect, however remote, that a playoff berth of any type – no matter the seed – is not yet assured.
