See the picture above? This is what the Pistons knew was coming, yet could not stop in any way...at all. Amir Johnson summed up the fiasco
"I tried to stop Dirk, but when a 7-footer is shooting that fade, it is tough to do anything against him "
Our defense was terrible last night. The Mavs shot 55% last night compared to our 42%. It was just bad. They made us play out of tempo the whole game, and everybody struggled. Nobody was shooting all that well from the field. For instance, our 5 starters combined for 44 points. Josh Howard and Dirk Nowitzki scored 48 points. Rip led the team in scoring with 17, but it didn't make much of a difference. There was just sloppy defense all night long, especially in the post. Amir was outmatched all night long, and it killed us. Luckily, the next game will be against the Rockets, who lost to the Pacers because Yao went down. For those of you keeping track at home. There big 3 is now a big 0.
Other things of note:
- Jason Kidd had a double-double
- Brandon Bass looked impressive scoring 18 points and 6 rebounds
- Will Bynum is starting to get more minutes because of the starting lineup change. He played 21 mins last night and had 10 points and 4 assists
- Although Tayshaun scored 12 points, he only hit 1 field goal. He was 10-10 from the line
