Ben Gordon breathes fire from the land of three as Detroit Pistons crush playoff bound Philadelphia 76ers 108-86…..
Ben Gordon knocked down 8 off 10 missiles from behind the three point line to help the Detroit Pistons crush playoff bound Philadelphia 76ers 108-86 here at the Palace of Auburn Hills in on Thursday night.
Gordon signed off the night with a game high of 26 points along with 5 assists. Two other players for the Pistons finished the game with double digits scores, Rodney Stuckey racked up 13 points while Charlie Villanueva came off
the bench to notch up 11 points.
Even though the rest of the Pistons roster made small contributions in the game however the impressive aspect on their part was that each and every one of their players including the last person off the bench, Vernon Macklin, got
their names on the score sheet.
Despite having five players making sizable contributions in the game, Philadelphia on the other hand, were unable to deal with the Pistons’ impressive 50.6 percent shooting from the field. Spencer Hawes led them with 16 points,
Jodie Meeks was not far behind with 15, and Sam Young added 12 while Craig Brackins and Evan Turner notched up 10 points each in the game.
The battle on the paint was equal. Both team notched up 40 points in the area. The Sixers however did hold a minor advantage in the rebounding aspect by grabbing 46 as compared to Detroit`s 43.
The game was pretty even at the start and at the 7:10 mark; the scores were equal at 9. In the next three minutes of the period, Detroit, were able to put together a 7-0 run and by the end of the first quarter, they were able to
take their lead into double figure, 26-15.
In the second quarter, with the momentum on their side, Pistons went on an onslaught from downtown. Detroit equalled the NBA record of 11 three pointers in that frame with Gordon getting 7 of those to set an individual franchise
record. Home side`s momentous exploits from beyond the arc to close out the half, enabled to put the game out of the visitor`s reach as the scores became 65-43 in Pistons favour.
In the third quarter, the Sixers failed to unleash a huge response and only managed to outscore their hosts by 2. It did not help them much in their pursuit of chasing down the game. After three quarters, they were still trailing
by 86-66.
The fourth quarter followed a similar script, but this time, the Pistons outscored the Sixers by 2. The highlight of the match came at the 5:09 mark in the period, when Gordon connected on his eighth triple of the night on a Wilkins
assists, which set the franchise record.
In the last 40 seconds of the game, Sixers closed out the match with back to back three pointers, however it did not do much effect to the eventual outcome of the game as they received a 22 point drubbing by the hand of the Pistons.
It was an emotional night for the Pistons reserve centre, Ben Wallace who had announced earlier in the season that he will be retiring this year.
Wallace who left the game in the latter stages of the third quarter did eventually return on to the court in the final minute of the game with the crowd ecstatic on his return as they chanted “We Want Ben”.
Wallace finished the game with seven points and racked up a season high of 12 rebounds in the game.
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