Monroe, Villanueva lead Pistons over short-handed Spurs
119Detroit Pistons
| Jason Maxiell, PF 23 MIN | 3-7 FG | 1-1 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 7 PTS | -3The good version of Max made a few appearances tonight — including two thunderous dunks that obliterated multiple Spurs. He’s struggled with his jump shot recently, and you would like a few more rebounds, but he had an adequate night. | ||
| Greg Monroe, C 40 MIN | 9-16 FG | 8-10 FT | 16 REB | 5 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 5 TO | 26 PTS | +13For the first time in a long time, Monroe put together a great game and his teammates actually came to play, too. He took Tiago Splitter to school early and was strong on the boards in the first and second half. He had five assists, but also five turnovers — which is what keeps him from an A+. | ||
| Jose Calderon, PG 31 MIN | 3-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 8 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 7 PTS | +13All you need to know about Calderon’s night is that he had eight assists and zero turnovers. He’s just so smooth with the ball, and when he gets a screen he knows exactly where his options — his jumper, the screener and extra shooters — are going to be. Tony Parker had a field day, but slowing him was a problem for all of the guards. | ||
| Brandon Knight, PG 36 MIN | 10-21 FG | 2-3 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 24 PTS | +5He didn’t look comfortable as a shooting guard in his first two outings this week, but tonight he looked the part. Knight was aggressive from the start and didn’t look passive at all. Some of his forays to the basket were a bit overly-aggressive, but this was a very strong showing. | ||
| Kyle Singler, SG 36 MIN | 6-11 FG | 1-1 FT | 7 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 14 PTS | +12I thought about it, and if Danny Green can be a key bench cog on a contender, then Singler can totally be that, too. He scored well and did a good, but not great, job guarding Leonard. | ||
| Charlie Villanueva, PF 33 MIN | 7-15 FG | 2-2 FT | 8 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 21 PTS | +10WHO IS THIS GUY? Not only did Charlie V shoot the ball well, but he had a pair of nice blocks and eight rebounds. The rebounds and points were season-highs for him, but, seriously, this may have been the best game he’s played since early in his Detroit days. | ||
| Will Bynum, PG 17 MIN | 4-6 FG | 1-1 FT | 2 REB | 5 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 9 PTS | -3Bynum gave the team a nice spark off the bench. With Lawrence Frank cutting his rotation down to eight guys, Bynum basically played with Villanueva, Singler, Stuckey and Monroe. He’s been able to look to score a little more with Calderon in the fold, too. | ||
| Rodney Stuckey, PG 24 MIN | 4-7 FG | 2-2 FT | 6 REB | 4 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 11 PTS | +3When he doesn’t set up camp in the corner, he’s a contributor. It looked like Frank ran a play or two to get him in the flow when he got on the floor, and that may have done the trick on getting him in the game mentally. | ||
| Lawrence Frank He gets criticized, whether fairly or not, for a lot of his decisions, but tonight it’s hard to question him. The team came out running-and-gunning on offense, which is a huge reason why they jumped out to a 21-point lead in the second quarter. He cut his rotation down to eight and it worked out to perfection with all three guys playing well off the bench. He never really found a way to bottle up Parker, but hey, who knows how to do that? |