Game Review: Dallas 112, Detroit 91

Instead of imitating the hard-nosed teams of Piston glory, new-look Detroit looked way too much like its opponent.

The Mavericks, not known for defense, rebounding or scrapiness completely controlled the tempo tonight.

Detroit entered the day with the third-fewest turnovers in the league. Holding a season average of 12.2, the Pistons turned the ball over 13 times in the first half. Behind Jason Kidd’s 10 assists, the Mavericks scorched the Pistons on several fastbreaks.

And Detroit didn’t disrupt Dirk Nowitzki physically early, and he found a rhythm. The Dallas star scored 26 points on 12-of-20 shooting.

Although the Pistons fell behind early, small ball did them in for good. The Pistons brought out small ball for the final 3:36 of the first half, and the Mavericks took control of the game.

Points: 14-4.

Rebounds: 4-1.

Assists: 4-1.

Steals: 2-0.

I think playing Rodney Stuckey, Allen Iverson, Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince together is a good idea for a few minutes per game, even if it didn’t work today. They just can’t get all the minutes their talents calls for if one of them is always on the bench.