Pistons beat Hawks, end 7 game slide

Big Ben! He’s been proving the doubters and critics wrong all year long, but he provided no bigger impact than in today’s win over the now 12-5 Atlanta Hawks. The Pistons have been hit hard with the injury bug, missing 3 starters in this game (Hamilton, Gordon, Prince) but they fought and clawed their way to a win. Kuester shook up the lineup, inserting Atkins as the starting point (his first start since 07), allowing Stuckey to play his more natural 2 spot, and Maxiell was inserted as the starting power forward, moving Villanueva to the bench.

The Pistons lost Villanueva in the 4^th quarter to a bloodied nose on a hard drive to the rim. Villanueva stayed in to make the free throws, but he had to come out. Villanueva ended up with a broken nose, but it is not yet known if he will miss any games.

Here are the three critical factors that lead to a Pistons victory:

· DE-FENSE: The Pistons did a number on Hawks star Joe Johnson (5-19 FG, 0 FT) and this is due to a couple of reasons. First of all, Stuckey did a good job staying in front of him and denying him good position on his post ups. Secondly, he had a lot of help behind him. On pick and rolls, Ben and Max really stepped out and denied him the open three; on post-ups the Pistons timed their traps perfectly and the rotations were usually pretty solid behind the trap, not allowing Atlanta too many open looks. Johnson did have some open looks that he missed, but for the most part the Pistons contested his shots and kept him out of the lane and kept him off the foul line.

Joe Smith did get off on a variety of dunks, layups and outside jumpers, but everything else was under control and Atlanta did not get many 2^nd chance opportunities. The Pistons also played the passing lanes well, collecting 10 steals, including an important pick by Jerebko on a two on one fast break with the Pistons nursing a 6 point lead with just under 2 minutes remaining.

· Crashing the Boards: The most impressive offensive rebounding performance by the Pistons in years, led by man who has made a living off of keeping possessions alive; Ben Wallace. Big Ben corralled a season high 18 rebounds, including 11 offensive rebounds. In the last two games, Ben was combined for 34 rebounds and 21 offensive boards. That type of performance is reminiscent of Ben circa 2002-2005. But it wasn’t just Ben; Jerebko chipped in with a career high 11 boards, Maxiell grabbed 4 more offensive boards, even Austin Daye chipped in with 4 boards in 11 minutes. For the game the Pistons outrebounded the Hawks 53-27 and 24-6 on the offensive glass.

Points in the paint were a decided edge for the Pistons as well. Atlanta, who is 2^nd in the NBA in points in the paint at 50 per game, were held to 38 points in the paint. That isn’t entirely shocking as the Pistons lead the NBA in fewest points per game allowed (32). But the fact that the Pistons scored 60 points in the paint, when they are last in the NBA in scoring in the paint (33), was extremely shocking. The fact that the Pistons so thoroughly man handled one of the team’s best attacking teams in the paint is certainly a positive sign moving forward.

· Bench Contributions: Will Bynum broke out of his brief slump, contributing 19 of the team’s 42 points off the bench, including 11 huge points in the 4^th quarter. Villanueva contributed 13 points before the broken nose forced him out and Kwame contributed 8 points and 5 boards, including a nice spin move to the hoop out of the post. When this team finally gets healthy (Gordon, Bynum, Charlie V all coming off the bench), this team’s bench will be as potent as any in the league.