Pistons close out year with first victory of season; overpower Pacers
John Raffel – AHN Sports Correspondent
Auburn Hills, MI, United States (AHN Sports) – The season was going perfect for the Indiana Pacers. But that was before they ran into a hungry Detroit Pistons team.
Jonas Jerebko scored 20 points and had 12 rebounds while Greg Monroe added 19 points and 11 boards to lead the Pistons over the Indiana Pacers 96-88 Saturday at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
It’s the first win of the season for the Pistons, 1-3, and the first loss for the Pacers, 3-1.
“It feels great,” said Jerebko who was 3-of-4 in 3-point attempts. “A loss tonight would not have been fun.”
It was a solid offensive night for the Pistons who were 39-of-82 from the floor for 47.6 percent. The Pacers were 30-of-76 for 39.5 percent
“It was all about limiting them to one shot,” said Pistons coach Lawrence Frank. “We limited them to (six) offensive rebounds. Our point guards were doing a great job of distributing the ball.”
“Hats off to Detroit,” said Indiana coach Frank Vogel. “They were aggressive tonight. Jerebko and Monroe outplayed our front court. They played a great game.”
Tayshaun Prince’s running bank hook shot gave Detroit a 69-56 lead with 4:39 left in the third quarter. He added a 3-pointer moments later for a 76-58 lead.
The Pistons continued to build their lead before Hills’ jump shot later in the period for the Pacers cut the Detroit cushion to 82-63.
The Pistons retained their double-digit leads throughout the fourth quarter before the Pacers cut it down. Prince’s triple at the 3-minute mark padded the lead to 92-82.
Tyler Hansbrough’s bank shot with 1:07 to play cut the Detroit lead to 94-88. But Monroe’s tip shot moments later sealed the win.
Hansbrough and George Hill had 16 points apiece for the Pacers.
“You can make excuses saying we got three games in four nights, or whatever, but we just didn’t show up,” Hansbrough said. “Obviously, we have a lot of things we need to improve on. We didn’t come out with the energy we needed or we didn’t come out there like we needed to. Just from the start, we were sluggish and slow.”
Jerebko had 16 points and seven rebounds in the first half to lead the Pistons to a 52-44 advantage at the intermission.
“Jonas was great tonight,” Frank said. “When you saw him in the first half all 14 of his shots were all rhythm shots, which all goes back to the point of ball movement. He rolls to find the open man and take the shot. Jonas hustles to get that ball, which obviously leads to big plays to secure the win.”
Ben Gordon scored last in the first quarter to give the Pistons a 19-18 lead. It was 21-18 after the first quarter.
Rodney Stuckey scored early in the second to boost Detroit to a 26-18 advantage.
Monroe’s 3-point play gave Detroit a 42-30 lead with five minutes left in the second. And Prince added a semi-hook shot moments later. Danny Granger’s long 3-pointer late in the second quarter for the Pacers made it 52-44.
Gordon and Stuckey had nine points apiece for Detroit in the first half.
“They played hard and they played the first three games,” Vogel said. “They just didn’t win. They didn’t do anything differently that what they’ve been doing.”
“Jerebko got out to a good start,” Hansbrough said. “He got hot and he was tough for us. Monroe did his thing.”
