1st Quarter Notes:
- Pekovic going right at Greg Monroe in the early going, racks up a handful of quick baskets. On the other end, Detroit color guy says Monroe will be able to take Pekovic off the dribble. Not so; Pek cuts him off the only time he tries. Pek finishes the quarter with 11 points.
- Tayshawn Prince, who would seemingly be tired of playing for loser Piston teams after playing for SIX consecutive teams that made it to the conference finals or beyond. He’s schooling Wes right now.
- Randolph with 5 energy points and 5 rebounds in the 1st. Missed some wild shots, though — needs to calm down when he’s holding the ball.
2nd Quarter Notes:
- In first 6 minutes of quarter, Pistons have 2 points (came on free throws). This is ugly.
- Beasley hits his first two jumpers, then balances it out with a couple mistakes.
- Pek re-enters game and immediately positions under the hoop on Monroe. Foul, two shots. He owns this matchup.
- Wouldn’t you know it… Prince re-enters the game and immediately scores a couple buckets. Pek & Prince are the only good ballplayers in this game.
- With little resistance from the Pistons, Barea’s now racking up numbers. On pace for a triple double. Wolves lead by 18 at half, despite playing the same type of ball we’ve grown accustomed to, post-ACL.
3rd Quarter Notes:
- Wolves seem to be cruising — holding a 15-20 point lead behind decent play from Barea, Randolph and Pekovic.
- I’m not sure what to note about this game. There’s 4 minutes left in the 3rd and Detroit has 40 points.
- Barea, playing an otherwise nice game, chucks two errant passes up the court for a pair of quick turnovers. Wolves still leading by 20. Detroit is awful.
- Remember the lockout? Guaranteed contracts help lead to the poor efforts that run rampant in Tanking Season. Detroit has enough talent to beat this Wolves team but they don’t care.
- D-Thrill is out of the starting rotation with AR15 producing (15 pts/10 rebs/3 blks) but doing okay tonight. Williams will get it — just needs time, coaching, reps. Might be for a different team though.
4th Quarter Notes:
- Ben Gordon and Charlie V hit a pair of jumpers to cut this thing to 15. DRAMA!
- Beasley and the rookies have this under control (Beasley and Williams in the halfcourt; Lee in transition). Lead back up to 21. Detroit is really bad.
- WILL BYNUM! comes into the game and brings energy with him. Jonas J & Charlie V hit a pair of treys and we’ve got ourselves an 11-point game.
- As you probably know, the Wolves get Utah’s draft pick if they make the playoffs. We should be cheering for Utah and cheering against Houston and Phoenix. Right now, New Orleans is surprising Houston behind a big game from future Timberwolf Eric Gordon. Hornets holding a small lead in the 3rd Quarter.
- With lead cut to 7, Pek corrals rebound and puts it back up for a tough two points, and probably seals the win. We’ll see…
- Will Bynum has 15 points, all in the 4th Quarter, in just 11 minutes of action. He’s playing with Corey Brewer-intensity. If Detroit plays this guy too many minutes, it could hurt their draft position.
- Wolves win by 11.
Wrapping this up…
- Nice game for Pekovic, Barea, Randolph, Beasley.
- Wes chipped in his usual 5 points and 2 rebounds. He struggled on defense. Absolutely insane that the small forward minutes were divided between he and Beasley this year — certainly cost the Wolves wins.
Punch-Drunk Wolves 
Randolph injured his hamstring? I saw the play before he started lifting, a bit of hustling for the offensive board. Any news on how bad it is?
I didn’t realize he got hurt until I read about it this morning. He played well when he was out there, hope he can finish off the last two games.