Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond get workout in win over Wizards

This wasn’t Drummond’s best effort, and he still had 14 rebounds. His post-ups yielded mixed results, and generally, the key was how deep he got before catching the entry pass. He seemed to get tired late as the Wizards came back, and they took advantage.

36 MIN | 5-13 FG | 8-10 FT | 7 REB | 5 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 18 PTS | -2

Monroe also looked tired late in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter when the Wizards made their run, even more so than Drummond. But Monroe was better throughout the game. When Josh Smith plays – he had the night off to rest – Monroe won’t be depended on to this degree, but it’s nice to see Monroe flash such an all-around game.

32 MIN | 4-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 6 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 12 PTS | +1

It seemed Billups deferred to his younger teammates at times, even though he’s better-equipped to run the offense. The veteran clearly understands the point of the preseason. And when Will Bynum and Peyton Siva set him up, Billups delivered, including a key 3-pointer late.

23 MIN | 2-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 5 PTS | -9

Siva played within his limits, which are still pretty constricting. He’s a rookie second-round pick, after all. Ideally, enough guards will be healthy by opening night to keep Siva on the bench, but if he must join the regular-season rotation, I want him to play like this. Let the better players shoulder the load, defend aggressively and avoid mistakes.

25 MIN | 5-10 FG | 1-2 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 14 PTS | -1

Singler has a real knack for getting open. Four of his baskets were assisted and all four by different players (Peyton Siva, Will Bynum, Chauncey Billups and Greg Monroe). This wasn’t a matter of Singler having exceptional chemistry with a single teammate. It was Singler seeing the court well and playing with passers good enough to take advantage.

6 MIN | 1-4 FG | 2-2 FT | 0 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | +13

Made a jumper and a nice pass, but didn’t have an opportunity to make much of an impact.

16 MIN | 4-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 8 PTS | +2

He looked very good offensively, getting to the rim and even making a jumper. He used his athleticism to more than make up for his occasional defensive positioning issue.

3 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | 0

Villanueva didn’t play in the second half due to a sore back. Could this injury give Jonas Jerebko a victory in their battle to be the backup power forward?

23 MIN | 5-7 FG | 0-1 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 11 PTS | +3

For the most part, he worked hard to get good shots, and that’s appreciated. Can I be a little greedy and ask Jerebko to work just as hard at defending and rebounding? His intensity while handling those less-glamorous tasks seemed to pick up as the game went along.

25 MIN | 5-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 9 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 13 PTS | +13

I figured Drummond was the bigger component in all the great alley-oops he received from Bynum last season, but maybe Bynum deserves more credit for throwing quality lobs. Not only did Bynum connect with Drummond tonight, he also threw oops to Caldwell-Pope and Mitchell.

17 MIN | 2-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 5 PTS | +3

Same story as the rest of his preseason and summer league. I liked his defensive effort, and he rebounded well for his position. But he has to make shots. Going 1-for-5 on 3-pointers just won’t cut it, and time is running out to show he’s fixed his jittery shooting

Not only did the Pistons have an impressive 29 assists, those came from 23 different passer-finisher combinations. That indicates a true acumen for team-wide ball movement (and tonight, off-ball movement by players) rather than exploiting a particular matchup, and the Pistons need good ball movement to counter the lack of perimeter shooting in their starting lineup. I also liked Cheeks playing Monroe and Drummond big minutes. Those two need to be in shape to handle major roles in the regular season.