http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/PHIDET_ ... recap.htmlPistons 101, 76ers 97
Records: Pistons 36-37, 76ers 37-35
Next: Pistons at Cleveland, Tuesday, 7 p.m.
TAKE FIVE : A five-point dissection of Allen Iverson’s first game in March. 1. - Allen Iverson’s back. But Will Bynum’s not going away. The pint-sized backcourt played together most of the fourth quarter, scoring 13 of Detroit’s 22 fourth-quarter points as the Pistons fended off Philadelphia for their first Sunday home victory in nine tries this season. “I think you see that having two guys that aggressive on the court at the same time, even if they’re smaller with Will and Iverson, that we can take advantage of that and make teams kind of downsize to us,” said Pistons coach Michael Curry. Bynum scored nine of his 12 points in the fourth quarter, including the 20-footer that gave them the lead for good, breaking an 89-89 with 6:14 left. Trailing by four entering the fourth, Bynum scored on a reverse layup and then Iverson swiped the ball and scored in transition – a play that Iverson’s sore back will remind him of Monday morning. “Certain moves to the basket I felt it, especially I think the play when I got the steal and laid it up. I really felt it because I tried to put it in an extra gear, and I might not be ready for that gear yet,” said Iverson, who left the Feb. 25 game at New Orleans with back trouble and missed the next 16 games. Iverson said he hadn’t even started running until Saturday, but wanted to make his return in front of the home fans rather than at Cleveland Tuesday. He rated his conditioning, on a scale of 1-10, at a 1. He scored eight points, making three of nine shots. “The first five, 10 seconds, my tongue was on the floor,” said Iverson, who played 21 minutes. “And it probably had a lot to do with the adrenaline and the crowd and everything and just getting back after not playing so long. That had a lot to do with it too.” Rip Hamilton – himself only one game removed from the injured list – spelled Iverson with 3:17 left in the fourth quarter. He looked plenty fresh, draining the baseline dagger to make it a four-point game with 14 seconds left. Hamilton followed up his 31-point comeback performance Saturday with 14 points and seven assists.
TEAM COLORS : 2. White Hot – Tayshaun Prince nearly had 20 points before any other Piston was in double figures, scoring 19 on 7-for-7 shooting in the first half. His third triple put the Pistons ahead, 52-49. It was their only lead of the second quarter. After making three triples just once in a span of 26 games, Prince went 6-for-7 from downtown this weekend. He was 3-for-3 at Washington and 3-for-4 against the 76ers. Prince scored just once in the second half, but it was a key bucket, tying the game at 89 midway through the fourth. The Pistons wouldn’t trail again. 3. BLUE COLLAR – Since recording a season-high 14 points against the Clippers March 20, Kwame Brown’s scoring had dropped in four straight games, bottoming out with scoreless 26 minutes in Washington. But he scored the game’s first points on the first of two first-quarter dunks set up by Hamilton. Brown also got to the foul line more than any other Piston. After making just two of five in the first half, Brown knocked down four straight free throws in the third quarter, giving the Pistons a 76-73 lead. Brown scored 13 points, including 7-for-11 at the foul line. “I thought Kwame was huge. We wanted to go inside some against this team and get them in foul trouble and kind of take advantage of our size and that hopefully that would slow them down,” Curry said. “Kwame did a really good job in getting to the foul line 11 times, that was big.” Brown was one of three Pistons with five rebounds (along with Bynum and Jason Maxiell); Antonio McDyess’ six rebounds were the fewest for a Pistons team-high in 41 games. But the Pistons dominated the boards in the fourth quarter, 12-4, thanks to Amir Johnson, who had four rebounds, two offensive. Johnson played a critical defensive role in the fourth, entering the game after the Pistons surrendered three straight baskets at the rim, one layup to Louis Williams and a layup and dunk by Andre Iguodala. Johnson played 18 minutes, 10 in the fourth. “Amir rebounds the ball above the rim and when you’re playing [against] athletic guys, that’s what you have to do to secure rebounds because if it’s below the rim a lot of guys can get their hands on it,” Curry said.
4. RED FLAG – Philadelphia had four steals in the first quarter, including a Bynum turnover that led to an Andre Iguodala fast-break dunk. Of Detroit’s 11 first-half turnovers, six were steals, leading to 17 Philadelphia points. That’s not surprising for the Sixers, who are ranked fourth in the NBA in steals per game (8.1) and steals differential. “Andre Igoudala and Thaddeus Young they really get out and run, they’re as fast as any wings in the league, so anytime we turned the ball over or they get long rebounds they get out and running, make it difficult to get back,” Curry said. “So we did a much better job the second half of taking care of the basketball and that’s what gave us a chance to win the game.” The Pistons had just two turnovers in the second half, while Rodney Stuckey forced that many turnovers by the Sixers in a 30-second span in the third quarter. One steal led to a fast-break layup and the other to a clear-path foul by Andre Miller. Stuckey made both free throws and then drained a jumper on the extra possession to go up 70-66. Stuckey had 16 points, five assists and three steals.THE LAST CALL: A little perspective on Iverson’s new ‘tude. 5. – Iverson opened his postgame remarks Saturday sounding more frustrated with the mental obstacle of coming off the bench than the physical ailments with his back. He sounded like someone still holding out hope for a spot in the starting lineup. But before he got to state of his back, Iverson spoke at length about another kind of pain – the hurt he felt to hear people question the severity of his injury and his commitment to the Pistons. And it’s that kind of talk that has fueled Iverson, who said, “my whole thing is trying to be the best sixth man I can be, and the best sixth man in the league.” “I just felt like it would be tough for me mentally. I knew I can get through the whole thing physically, but just mentally it was tough for me,” he said. “But I thought about the big picture and that’s helping my teammates get a win and the more I thought about that, the more I relished the challenge of having to come off the bench.”
