Greg Monroe guides Detroit Pistons to a
99-94 win against Washington Wizards – NBA Recap
On Thursday night, at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, MI, the Detroit Pistons played host to the Washington Wizards.
Greg Monroe scored 18 points and had seven rebounds while Rodney Stuckey managed 15 points on his return as the Pistons took over the Washington Wizards 99-94.
The most significant role in the win was perhaps played by the veteran Ben Wallace, who made five crucial free throws near the closing stages of the game to help the Pistons, who had struggled from the charity line throughout the
night.
For the Wizards, John Wall scored 28 points and dished out 10 assists, while Kevin Seraphin, who fouled out of the game after 30 minutes, managed 15 points on a 7-for-12 from the floor.
Detroit out rebounded the visitors 40-38 on the night and had 42 points in the paint as compared to 38 by the Wizards . These stats do suggest that it was a close contest but the whole picture portrayed
another story.
The action started off early as the Pistons wanted to stomp their authority on this one from the start. They opened up an early 5 point lead but the Wizards rallied their way back into the contest and the scores remained close
till the closing stages of the first quarter. Pistons however settled in to end the opening 12 minutes on a 7-2 run for a
28-21 lead .
The second quarter had the same script with the Wizards trying hard to cut back on the lead while the Pistons holding strong to lead by as much by 12 points at one point.
For the Wizards, John Wall, who was locked in a battle with his old Kentucky team mate Brandon Knight, managed to score 11 points at halftime to help Washington close the first half at 40-51.
The game could have been put to bed before the break but the Pistons poor shooting from the free throw spot, 11-24, allowed the visitor to stay put.
Early in the second half, Pistons looked to learn from their mistakes while the Wizards looked to capitalize on their host’s reluctance to provide the killer blow. But then, up stepped Rodney Stuckey, who had been sidelined with
injury recently, and managed to score 7 of his 15 points to help the Pistons lead by 12, 76-64 going into the fourth.
This lead got as big as 20 points with 9:19 remaining in the game. But the visitors were not going out that easy as they hit three quick three pointers to rally their way back into the game.
With 2:18 remaining on the clock, the Wizards exploited the poor free throw shooting of their hosts and adopted the quick foul strategy. They fouled Ben Wallace three times in the space of 16 seconds. Wallace who is a 26% shooter
from the charity spot this season was apparently a wise choice for making a foul on. But in the dying moments, Wallace went clutch as he made 5 free throws to help the Pistons take this one.
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