A Magical Ride at The Palace

The Pistons took it to The Magic early at The Palace Friday night in what was one of best first halves of basketball all season for The Pistons. The fist quarter in particular was almost unbelievable as Detroit put up 39 points to Orlando's 18 and they finished the half with 68. Detroit went into a second half slump scoring on 33 points the rest of the way, but Orland couldn't get closer than nine eight. Final score 101-93.

Key Points:

• Orlando's 64% from the foul line really hurt them, especially since they went to the line 39 times, the most by an opponent of the Pistons all season. Now I can't really be objective about the foul calls because it's much harder to tell when you are at the game and don't get to see all the replays, but the Pistons looked like they got plenty of questionable calls against them. I knew going in that it was going to be a long night as soon as I saw Steve Javie.
• Eight minutes for Amir and all were impressive. Young Amir scored 2, grabbed 4 boards and blocked 3 shots. The downside, 3 fouls in that time...it will come.
• Tayshaun 3-for-12, it's almost hard to watch sometimes. I am hoping the All Star break will do him some good. He did grab 6 boards with 8 assists so it wasn't as bad as it has been of late.
• Jarvis...2 minutes and 47 seconds. You can't score, you don't play.
• Jason Maxiell's almost ally oop with Dwight Howard watching would have rocked The Palace. Jason has now played more minutes this year than he has all of last season.
  
• Rip Hamilton was on FIRE, he barely missed a shot all night. He led the Pistons with 32 points on 14-for-22 shooting with 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals. Impressive.

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• The Pistons made 17 of their first 22 shots.
• Antonio McDyess put up another double-double with 10 points and 13 boards. He was 5-for-11 from the floor but I am a bit worried about his ability to hit the open jumper. It used to be money in the bank.
• From my angle the Dwight Howard goal tending on Tayshaun in the first quarter really looked like a good block.
• Funny thing, Carlos Arroyo still gets under my skin even though he's not on the Pistons anymore. I wonder how Magic fans feel when he drives the lane in traffic and can't convert. He did however blow by Chauncey quite a few times Friday. Nice elbow Arroyo, everyone except Javie saw it.
• Amir's block on Howard had to make him feel good. He plays well when he's getting minutes.
• Can the Pistons Get back in Rhythm?
• Stuckey, struggling is putting it lightly. You can't be too down on the young man, he's missed a lot of time and to have that happen in your rookie year is difficult. He went 0 for 6 on the night but added 3 boards and 2 assists.
• A little Riparriffic highlights...I think he's going to put up at least one triple-double this season.

Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons and myTV20 Detroit

• Sheed could not miss in the first quarter, in fact 13 of his 15 points came in the first. He looked like he was going to have a huge game but a bit of foul trouble and the fact that Detroit stopped going to him cut his game short on the night. Why they stopped feeding him the ball is something I just don't understand. When Sheed is hot like that nobodly can stop him, in fact two of his points were tipped in by Howard....that's just how his night was going.
• 26 points in the paint for the Pistons.
• Afflalo: Stealing all of Stuckey's thunder.
  
• Maxiell sure has his jumpshot down. He finished with 6 points and 3 boards in 20 minutes.
• Rebound war won 49-31.
• "There has been speculation that Rasheed Wallace might get picked because of the paucity of centers in the East, but Saunders doesn't see that happening."'Sheed's come out publicly so much about not playing that I think the coaches will probably pick (Cleveland's Zydrunas ) Ilgauskas ," Saunders said."'Sheed's never been one to care much about all-star games and things like that. Remember, he was the only person ever to get thrown out of the McDonald's (High School) All-Star Game."Wallace remembered the story well. "Some guy hit me with an elbow, I elbowed him back and I was jawing with the ref," he said." Via The Detroit News
  
• I don't know if they showed it on the broadcast, but Curtis Granderson and new Tiger Dontrelle Willis were in the house. When interviewed, Willis was asked who his favorite Piston is and when he answered Sheed, he was asked why. He said it was because he's a gamer and he likes his DANCE...he then proceeded to do a little Sheed pre-game imitation. CLASSIC.
• Chauncey had a nice 21 points night on 6-for-10 shooting. I will say that I was calling for Mr. Big shot to get back into the game when Stuckey was struggling and the Pistons couldn't score.

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• Flip Saunders won his 148th game with the Pistons, trailing only Chuck Daly's franchise record of 467 wins. Don't think Chuck has anything to worry about.
• Testing the Zoo Crew.
• NBA.com Highlights of the Game.
• It's been some time since we have seen the Pistons play like this. Their biggest lead on the night was 27.
• The Pistons backcourt is definitely heating things up.
• Webber to the Warriors?
• Cheikh Samb returned from Senegal on Thursday, where he went to fix a passport issue. He will likely be sent to the NBA-Development League soon.
• Please don't make me hate you.....No need to pop your jersey after you beat your former team that has just 7 wins on the year. TWolves fans...I feel you.
  
• 50.6% from the floor for Detroit.
  
• I will say that I jinxed Sheed, right when the game started I mentioned to my friend that it's been so long since RA picked up a tech (#7). Not only did he get called for one but Chauncey did too. Rasheed eventually fouled out of the game. I kept announcing during the game..."Sheeds' mad, Sheeds' mad," which usually means a great game or a tech or two.

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• I will be making my final decisions for the Ultimate Pistons Fan Ticket Giveaway, I will announce the winners on Monday. Let me tell you, it's been difficult. Way to go Team Need4Sheed.