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Pistons Remain Undefeated

With their win over Portland on Friday, the Detroit Pistons are sporting a perfect record of 6-0, making them the only team that has yet to have lost a game. The difference between this Pistons team and the one we saw the last couple of seasons is that this team does it on both ends of the court. The Pistons have improved substantially on the offensive under Flip Saunders who took over for Larry Brown in the off season.

Friday night?s game was the third in a three game western road trip for the Pistons. Uncharacteristically for the Pistons, the Blazers dominated the boards and got easy shots in the first half, leading to a 48-41 lead. In the third quarter Chauncey Billups led the charge with help from Rasheed Wallace as the Pistons rallied back to take a one-point lead after three. In the final quarter the Pistons held on for a 84-81 win that Flip Saunders admitted after the game was pretty tough.

As a team, the Blazers won the rebound battle 43-30, but Detroit forced 15 turnovers while only committing six. Darius Miles led Portland with 23 points, but 18 of those came in the first half. Zach Randolph added 21 and 10 rebounds, Juan Dixon scored 19 off the bench on a perfect 6-6 shooting night, and Theo Ratliff grabbed 14 rebounds. Billups led five Pistons in double figures with 21 points and 10 assists. Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton added 14, Wallace 13, and Ben Wallace contributed 12 of his own.