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J.R. Smith scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Denver Nuggets pull away for a 97-87 victory Tuesday night over the Washington Wizards.
Carmelo Anthony led the Nuggets with 29 points and 12 rebounds. Nene added 16 points for Denver, which sent Washington to its ninth consecutive loss.
Andray Blatche led the Wizards with 23 points and Al Thornton had 16.
LeBron takes over
LeBron James had five points at halftime. He also had seven assists, but had five points and seemed to be laying really low. You knew James was going to make an impact soon. A big impact. The Pistons knew it, too. But containing him, holding down the best player in the NBA, that's another matter. The Pistons actually played a fine game Tuesday. Maybe they deserved to win, had it been another opponent. But the way James took over in the second half, specifically the fourth quarter (15 points), a Pistons victory wasn't going to happen. The Pistons knew James was goign to take over and couldn't stop him.
Pistons vs. Cavaliers
Postgame Quotes - March 16, 2010
Regular Season Game #68
Pistons Head Coach John Kuester
(On the game)
“We played hard, the guys played with everything they had. We just had some things not go our way in the end. I’ll tell you this, I was very proud of the way our guys played.”
(On the Cavaliers)
“They did a great job of executing. We knew every play that they were going to run, we just didn’t stop them. They got it done. I give them credit.”
(On LeBron James)
“He’s the best player in the NBA. The best player in the NBA, that understands the game and he does a great job of managing the game.”
(On all the guys playing well)“Not just Rip (Hamilton), but all the guys played well. Tayshaun (Prince) was aggressive, Will Bynum had come in and done a real nice job for Stuckey. Charlie (Villanueva) came in and gave us a big lift and made some big threes. Rip has played with a tremendous amount of energy and focused on what we wanted to get done. We just have to play that way against everyone. We’ve had moments that we’ve done extremely well, but right now we’re playing teams executing a little bit better than us.”
(On giving Prince a break)
“He played great. I told him, as long as LeBron was in there I tried to keep him in there as much as possible. It was very difficult to take him out, because LeBron was facilitating at times, but also when he gets aggressive, he’s the one guy that Tayshaun could do a good job with.”
Pistons Forward Jonas Jerebko
(On the game)
“Yesterday we didn’t play good at all in Boston, so we wanted to come out here and play well against the best team in the NBA. I think that we competed tonight and did take a step forward. I think that both teams played a pretty good game and they came up with some big shots in the end and had a big last quarter so they came up with the win.”
(On playing against LeBron James)“He is a great player and one of the best in the NBA. He is a great player. He had a great last quarter and we knew that is his quarter, so we just need to do a better job of maybe fouling him harder when he goes into the lane, but we just need to learn from our mistakes.”
Cavaliers Head Coach Mike Brown
(On the game)
“It was a tough game. I tell you what, I feel for John Kuester because he's done a hell of a job with this team. He's just had it tough this year with all the injuries. To keep this team together, especially after the type of loss they had last night, to come in here and compete against us the way that they did. You have to give Kue and the coaching staff credit. It was a terrific job by those guys and their players of getting refocused for this game. Obviously Detroit played a good ball game the entire game and we broke it loose in the end. We feel that there were some things we could have done better through the course of the game. Obviously LeBron was terrific and every assist, rebound and bucket was needed. Late in the game, when it was a close ball game, he got Mo (Williams) a three by calling that play. He called that play a couple of times in a row and Mo knocked down some big shots. It was terrific seeing the execution that we had out there after LeBron made the call. Mo stepping up and knocking down those shots were huge. Two guys that were kind of unsung were Leon Powe, whose toughness and physicalness was something that we needed in the second half, and Jawad (Williams) played big for us every second he was on the floor.”
(On the Cavs)“This is a good ball club with veterans that know how to win and that understand the game very well. What it shows is these guys are professionals and they have it in them to do what it takes to win the game. Every once in a while they have to be reminded but not often. That's why I don't have to do that a lot. Tonight, I said something and they responded and it shows that we got grip. It also proves to everybody and themselves that that's what’s going to win ball games.”
Cavaliers Forward LeBron James
(On the Pistons' play)
“We responded to them. We knew they were going to play a lot better then they did last night in Boston. There was no way they were going to repeat that performance. I have a lot of history with this team. I know a lot of the coaches and of course Coach Kue. It was back and forth.”
(On not scoring a lot in the first half in the past few games)
“It just happened like that these past few games. I haven't scored many points in the first half but fourth quarter, second half, is when you have to perform at a high level. For the most part that's when the games are going to be close and that's when it’s close-out time for me. That's what I work out for and that's what I prepare myself for.”
(On his triple double)“That means your doing everything that you need to do to win basketball games. That rebound, giving your guys an opportunity to score and also helping your team by scoring as an individual. That is one of the best things you can have as an individual.”
Clock Adjustment
It had nothing to do with the switch to daylight savings time, but the Pistons turned back the clock Tuesday anyway. For a few blissful hours, the Pistons transported themselves away from a season cursed by injury and misfortune and back to the day – not so long ago – when they were Cleveland’s equal and games against the Cavaliers carried playoff weight. The Pistons and Cleveland arrived at mid-March sprinting in opposite directions, the Pistons coming off consecutive blowout losses to Eastern heavyweights and headed toward the lottery, the Cavs running away from the pack for the No. 1 playoff seed with the expectation of an NBA title and the uncertainty of LeBron James’ pending free agency hanging over their every move. It could have been the 2007 playoffs all over again, when James broke open a tight game with a series of highlight-reel plays down the stretch of a fourth quarter stamped with his imprint – 15 points, four assists and three rebounds on his way to 29, 12 and 12. But one of those highlight plays cost the Pistons two points and a chance to position themselves for the upset on a blocked shot that wasn’t. Trailing 104-101, the Pistons saw Will Bynum chase down a long rebound of a rare LeBron fourth-quarter foible – he missed a 3-point attempt – and streak in for a layup to cut their deficit to one. James, trailing the play, went in for the type of block he seemingly executes every game. But replays clearly showed Bynum’s layup attempt coming off the backboard before James’ right hand swatted it away. It should have been goaltending and a one-point game. Instead … “It’s tough,” Bynum said. “It’s the deciding factor of the game. You’re fighting so hard to get back into the game, it kind of took the air out of the team.” “I thought I got it before it hit the glass,” James said through a wry smile, “but I saw the replay. It could have gone the other way.” According to several Pistons, the referees later admitted the call was incorrect, but it’s not reviewable or correctable. “They know it’s a bad call,” John Kuester said. “They know that. It’s a shame. That was a momentum breaker. So we had it going. But, hey, that’s the NBA.”
So is this: After getting crushed by two of the teams with a legitimate shot at knocking Cleveland out of the NBA Finals, Atlanta and Boston, in their last two games, trailing by 28 and 29 at halftime, the Pistons – playing without Ben Wallace and Rodney Stuckey again, but with Tayshaun Prince giving them 44 minutes one night after taking a knee to the back that forced him out of the Boston game – played one of the NBA elites to the wall. “We played so poorly last night,” Kuester said. “You don’t get in until 4 o’clock in the morning, whatever, and we just played hard. We competed. Guys gave everything they had. We just had some things not go our way at the end, but I’ll tell you this: I was very proud of the way our guys played.”If you could have pushed the standings out of your head, the fourth quarter, in fact, stirred memories of those playoff series these two franchises have played over the years. For most of the night, James was in deferential mode – he had five points at halftime and 14 through three quarters – but everyone in the building could see he’d decided it was winning time early in the fourth quarter. It was James who keyed an 8-0 Cleveland run that most assumed had put the game away after an Austin Daye triple tied the score at 83. But the Pistons answered back with their own 8-0 run, keyed by Charlie Villanueva (16 points), followed by a sequence where Mo Williams, Villanueva and Williams again hit triples in the span of 34 seconds. “We just tried to redeem ourselves,” Villanueva said. “Just tried to compete. That’s all we tried to do, compete and let the marbles fall wherever they may. We fought today – we just fell short. We all knew (James’ charge) was coming. He had five points at halftime. I don’t know what he finished with, but it wasn’t five points. It just seemed like when we hit a big shot, they answered right back. I think Mo Williams hit three straight 3-point shots. We just can’t allow that. We can’t allow a good shooter like Mo to hit big-time shots like that.”
That was Kuester’s obvious regret about the night. For everything he admired about the fight his team showed after two demoralizing losses, the execution that allowed Williams to knock down three corner triples in the final five minutes gnawed at him. “We knew every play they were going to run,” said Kuester, an assistant on Cleveland’s staff the past two seasons. “We just didn’t stop it. LeBron and Mo do such a great job of getting themselves in their sets at the end of the game and they got everything they wanted. But we had drawn up every play that they had executed. …We knew that play was coming. That’s the play.” James’ heroics overshadowed a handful of lines from the Pistons’ box score that Kuester would take every night in a heartbeat. Prince gave him 15 points, eight assists and seven boards. Rip Hamilton put up 24 points on just 15 shots. Jason Maxiell (10 points, 15 boards) put up his fifth straight double-double. Will Bynum ran the point for 38 minutes with one turnover. Jonas Jerebko made his usual assortment of hustle plays and continued flashing a brighter offensive future. And Villanueva’s play off the bench in the second half was exactly the punch the Pistons think he can deliver consistently. But against a team that’s become as comfortable in the clutch as the Pistons of recent vintage were at their peak, it wasn’t enough to pull out a win. Not on a night that James played to every bit of his MVP-worthy level when the situation demanded it. “He’s the best player in the NBA,” Kuester said. “Best player in the NBA that understands the game and he does a great job of managing the game.”
BLUE COLLAR – In Ben Wallace’s absence, Jason Maxiell is giving the Pistons numbers that even Wallace wasn’t reaching. In eight starts since Wallace sat with a right patellar tendon strain, Maxiell is averaging 10.8 points and 11.3 rebounds and has racked up five straight double-doubles, including the 10 points and 15 boards he registered against Cleveland. In the process, he’s dispelling the long-held notion that he wasn’t suited to play extended minutes. Maxiell is averaging more than 32 minutes a game in that span and his production hasn’t suffered from game to game or half to half.
RED FLAG – As good as it was to see Charlie Villanueva break out with a big second half, scoring 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, the Pistons would really like to see Ben Gordon get on track in the season’s final 14 games. Gordon struggled again against the Cavs, scoring four points in 19 minutes and going scoreless in the second half, missing all three of his shots. Gordon’s shooting percentage has sunk to 42 and 30 from the 3-point line.
Video in the link above^.Postgame Recap - Pistons vs. Cavaliers
Richard Hamilton had 24 points and Jason Maxiell had a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds as the Pistons fell to the Cavs 113-101 on Tuesday.
Video in the link above^.Postgame Recap - Pistons vs. Cavaliers
Richard Hamilton had 24 points and Jason Maxiell had a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds as the Pistons fell to the Cavs 113-101 on Tuesday.
DaJuan will be at Mr. B's from 7-8pm for the Pistons Tonight radio broadcast
Jason Richardson scored 27 points and Amare Stoudemire 25, then sat with the rest of the Phoenix starters while the Suns' reserves finished off a 152-114 rout of Minnesota on Monday night in the highest-scoring game by an NBA team this season.
Corey Brewer scored 21 for the Timberwolves, who set a franchise record for most points allowed in a game.
Richardson, who scored 15 in the first quarter, matched his season high with six 3-pointers. Steve Nash had 13 points and 14 assists, nine of them in the opening period.
Kobe Bryant scored 30 points, Pau Gasol added 28 points and 11 rebounds, and the Lakers completed a sweep of their Northern California swing with a 106-99 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night.
Andrew Bynum added 21 points and 12 rebounds, and the Lakers finished with 60 points in the paint to remain four games ahead of Denver for the best record in the Western Conference. Gasol and Bynum combined to make 21-of-28 shots.
Rookie Tyreke Evans had 25 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists for the Kings, narrowly missing his second career triple-double.
Pistons coach John Kuester hopeful Rodney Stuckey will practice Thursday and play Friday
The Detroit Pistons had some rare good news on the injury front Tuesday. Pistons coach John Kuester said before Tuesday's game against Cleveland that he is hopeful point guard Rodney Stuckey will return to practice Thursday and play Friday against Indiana.
Thursday would be the first full practice for Stuckey since he collapsed March 5 during a game at Cleveland. If all goes well in that practice, Stuckey could return to the lineup the following day. "Hopefully," Kuester said. "We're playing that by ear." At the same time, Tayshaun Prince was in the starting lineup one day after being knocked out of Monday's game.
Prince took a knee to the back from teammate Jason Maxiell during the first quarter of a loss to Boston on Monday night. He left the game and did not return, but he was back in the starting lineup against the Cavaliers."He took a nice little hit," Kuester said. Kuester said his backup plan if Prince had been unable to play would have been to start Jonas Jerebko in Prince's place and insert Charlie Villanueva into the starting lineup at power forward.
Kuester: Strong starts needed
Slow starts have hurt the Pistons in recent losses to Atlanta and Boston, so Kuester said a key to getting back on the winning track is to get off to strong starts. "In both games, we allowed them to hurt us in the first quarter," Kuester said. "We've got to make sure we do a good job of taking care of the basketball in that first quarter and not giving them easy opportunities."
Kuester said mistakes and missed shots on the offensive end have led to problems on the other end of the court. "Our bad possessions, unfortunately, have allowed the other teams to get out and run easy," he said, "so we've got to make sure we do a good job of taking care of the ball."
In the end, it's important for the Pistons to play hard from start to finish, Kuester said. "Bottom line is, we've got to get ready to play for 48 minutes," he said
Sunday's game time changed
The Pistons' game at Cleveland on Sunday will begin at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on FSD.
The game originally was scheduled for 8 p.m. and to be televised by ESPN.
Pistons' Jason Maxiell raffling off 1989 Camaro
Detroit Pistons forward Jason Maxiell is donating a classic 1989 Chevrolet Camaro to be raffled off to benefit the Food Bank Council of Michigan.
Raffle tickets are available at a kiosk in front of Section 110 at The Palace of Auburn Hills during home Pistons games and online at pistons.com through April 7. Tickets are for $5 each, $10 for three or $20 for 10. Maxiell will award the raffle winner with the keys to the car during a halftime ceremony during Fan Appreciation Night on April 12, when the Pistons will host Toronto in their final home game of the season.
The Pistons raised more than $400,000 on March 2 for the Food Bank Council of Michigan through their annual Pistons Care Telethon.
Manu Ginobili scores 22 as Spurs hang on against Heat
Ginobili scored 22 points, none bigger than a tide-turning 3-pointer with 7:58 left, and the surging Spurs wasted most of a 25-point, third-quarter lead before beating the Heat 88-76 on Tuesday night, San Antonio's eighth win in its last nine games.
Richard Jefferson added 15 points and Tim Duncan had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs, who are 4-1 since point guard Tony Parker broke his right hand. The win ensured San Antonio would end the night no worse than No. 7 in the Western Conference standings.
Dwyane Wade scored 28 points for Miami, which lost for the first time in its last seven home games. Jermaine O'Neal added 13 points and Udonis Haslem finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Heat, who missed a chance to move past Charlotte for the No. 6 spot in the East race. Charlotte lost at Indiana.
Cavaliers 113, Pistons 101: Improved effort results in another loss for Pistons
The effort was significantly better than the night before. The Pistons cared, played with passion, and played well. But facing arguably the best team in the NBA, it wasn't enough. The Cleveland Cavaliers made big plays down the stretch when they needed to and defeated the Pistons, 113-101. "We were all disappointed and embarrassed," Will Bynum said of the ugly loss to Boston the night before. "We wanted to come out and have a good performance and we had a chance (to win) until the end of the game."
The Pistons (23-45) have lost 10 of 12 games. Richard Hamilton scored 24, Charlie Villanueva 16 and Jason Maxiell had 10 points and 15 rebounds. LeBron James had 29 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists, while Mo Williams scored 20 for the Cavaliers (53-15). "We just played hard," said Pistons coach John Kuester, who was not pleased with Monday's loss. "We competed, and guys gave everything they had. We just had some things not go our way at the end."
James sank a jumper with 59.9 seconds left, giving the Cavaliers a 106-101 lead, then followed with a 3-pointer with 29.5 seconds remaining to stretch the lead to nine points (109-101). Williams had three three-pointers in the final five minutes. "When we hit a big shot, they answered right back," Villanueva said. "They made big shots when it counted."