http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/trueblu ... 00323.htmlInsult and Injury
The Pistons finally found something that worked against Indiana – a small-ball lineup that turned an 11-point deficit in the second quarter into a three-point lead. But they never went back to it in the fourth quarter. Why? No, not because John Kuester earned his first career ejection in the third quarter. It was a much more familiar reason: injury. Will Bynum, this time. Not the left ankle, not the right ankle, which combined to cost him 19 games of the season. This time, his back. Bynum started again, even though Rodney Stuckey returned three games ago, and was playing effectively in 17 first-half minutes with 11 points, four assists and one turnover. He was on the floor for the first 8:44 of the second quarter when Kuester opened with a three-guard lineup of Bynum, Stuckey and Ben Gordon that he showed a particular fondness for in the preseason. And he stayed out there when Kuester brought Tayshaun Prince back midway through the quarter at power forward for Charlie Villanueva, making the Pistons smaller yet. Those combinations of lineups outscored Indiana, which would go on to a 98-83 win that gave the Pacers their first-ever season sweep of the Pistons, 24-10 over that period. You can bet Kuester would have gone back to that lineup in the second half – and probably before the fourth quarter started, by which time Indiana had rebuilt its lead to 11. “We would have gone back to it,” he said after the game. “It’s something we haven’t used in a long time. It just seemed like we need to be able to defend and also create some opportunities for us and get some energy going, and I thought (that lineup) did.”
What made that lineup particularly effective, in addition to the offensive punch it provides, was the defensive job Stuckey did on Danny Granger. Granger, as he typically does, bedeviled the Pistons with 32 points, getting to the foul line 14 times. But in the second quarter, when he was guarded largely by Stuckey, Granger was 0 for 3 from the field. “Stuckey is somebody who can guard so many players,” Kuester said. “He did a heck of a job, I thought, during that time on Granger. Even watching the halftime edit (of game tape) that we make, our energy and our effort was outstanding. They’re making shots, but we’re playing hard and that’s what you want to do.” It was the spunk he saw from his team in the second quarter that was largely responsible for igniting Kuester’s fuse late in the third quarter, after a series of calls went against the Pistons, and finally an offensive foul called against Ben Gordon – for swinging the ball through with Indiana’s A.J. Price in his grille, Price getting grazed by Gordon’s upper arm – sent a season’s worth of Kuester’s frustration bubbling over. “It was one of those things,” said Kuester, who picked up his first technical of the season just last week. “I was disappointed. You’re talking about a 26-14 (team fouls) discrepancy and it just seemed like we could never get a chance. … I thought the guy flopped when Ben just pulled his arm up and he didn’t even do it viciously. It just takes the momentum out of us. “I thought our team was fighting and I want to fight for them. That’s the way I look at it.” “It was a love tap, basically,” Gordon said. “I was just trying to swing the ball through. Didn’t hit him hard at all, basically tapped him.”
The Pacers have killed the Pistons from the 3-point arc all season, coming into the game shooting .419 in the first three wins and averaging 10.3 makes per game, and there were close to both norms again. Indiana finished 12 of 31 (.387) from the arc, outscoring the Pistons by 15 in that category – exactly the margin of victory. But in the second quarter, when the Pistons played at a comfortable tempo and forced Indiana into rushed and contested 3-pointers often, Detroit actually outscored the Pacers (9-6) from the arc. “That lineup we had out there gave them some problems because they had to worry about defending us and playing a quicker tempo,” said Gordon, who struggled with his shot (5 of 14) but managed 12 points and four assists in 29 minutes. “That was pretty much the key to our success in that quarter. I don’t even know what happened to Will, but he wasn’t able to come back out and we weren’t able to go back to that lineup that helped us in the beginning.” “The effort, the energy we played – the passion we played with,” said Bynum, who was diagnosed with a back contusion and said he had great difficulty catching his breath after his hard tumble. “I don’t care if we’ve got 11 games left and we’re not making the playoffs, that’s not the point. When we’re out there on the court, we’ve got to give 110 percent out there like it’s our last game. That’s how we have to play. We have to play like there’s just no other way.” They’ll have to wait until next year to see how Indiana responds to heavier doses of small ball. That’s the story of the season: The Pistons have to wait until next year for a lot of things.
