Detroit Pistons storm back to steal 79 – 77 win over Washington Wizards – NBA Recap
The Detroit Pistons stormed back into the game in the final quarter at the Verizon Center for a narrow win over the Washington Wizards. The encounter between the two sides on Monday looked like going Washington’s way but the Pistons surged late to grab the
important victory.
It was another close defeat for the Wizards, who have made a habit of losing tight games late on. It certainly did not sit down well with their coach.
"Carbon copy of the last two here," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. "If you keep running into the same guy, and he keeps punching you in the face, you're going to learn to get your hands up, aren't you? This is three straight times."
Apart from Washington’s late collapse, a feature of the game was poor play from both sides in the first half. Wizards started off the game with a 6 – 0 burst, but soon lost their touch. The Pistons on the other hand simply couldn’t buy a bucket.
The poor play continued from both sides throughout, with the first quarter ending at 16 – 14 and the second at just 35 – 30, Wizards in the lead.
"In the first half the NBA called, they were about to throw both of us out of the building." Pistons head coach Lawrence Frank joked after the game.
"The first half was horrible on both sides-both teams. It was pretty much just ugly basketball." Said Rodney Stuckey, Pistons guard.
Rodney was the top scorer in the game with 24 points. Greg Monroe helped the Pistons along with 10 rebounds and 10 points while Brandon Knight had 8 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds.
Tayshaun Prince finished with 18.
For the Wizards, Jordan Crawford scored 20 points and had 5 assists. John Wall scored 14, dished out 9 assists and had 7 rebounds. No other Wizards player made a significant impact.
After the interval Washington looked like taking control of the game. For one thing, both sides started to click offensively, and the Wizards took advantage by taking their lead to 62 – 53 at the end of the third segment.
The final 12 minutes however belonged to Detroit. The Pistons had a 12 – 1 run that brought them to within a point of the Wizards, 68 – 67.
Afterwards the scores remained close, and the game looked to be heading for overtime when Nene struck to make it 77 – 77, just under 6 seconds on the clock. Stuckey however came up with the game winning jumper to give Pistons the memorable win.
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