1st Quarter Notes:
Sloppy start from both teams. Pistons scored early off of second chance points. Pekovic ended quarter with 8 points and 4 rebounds. He was heavily involved in the offense. When Budinger entered the game late in the quarter, the spacing and ball movement improved. Wolved led 19-16 after the first.
2nd Quarter Notes:
Budinger working off of curl screens, which seems to be a nice wrinkle to add in to such a high ball screen heavy offense. It takes some pressure off of Rubio and scrambles the defense a little bit more than usual.
Shved makes two careless turnovers. One comes off of his patented jump pass to the opposite side of the floor, the other when he lazily tried to throw a one-handed pass down the baseline. His defense looked energized, but he needs to take better care of the ball. He scored on one dribble jumper from about 18 feet, going to his right. It’s interesting how much better he shoots from that range than from just a few feet back. He would do well to avoid those “1 step in front of the 3 line” shots. (As would almost everyone.)
Good J.J.! Barea made 3 out of 4 buckets off the bench, helping the Wolves build a 5-point lead late in the quarter.
Pek finished strong — has 14 points and 8 boards at the half. On the other end, Greg Monroe has 8 & 6 of his own (and 4 steals). These two have trouble defending one another.
Charlie Villenueva played 7 minutes off the bench. He scored 2 points. He has a player option for next year to make over $8 Million. I think he’ll exercise it.
Wolves lead 44-38 at half. Not a particularly well played game by either team, but Wolves have looked pretty solid since the middle of the first quarter.
3rd Quarter Notes:
Wolves hit 4 three-pointers in short sequence and lead by 10. Williams’ came from the left wing, where he shoots over 40 percent. He shoots about 20 percent from the right wing. This is true both behind the three line and slightly in front of it. What is up with that?
After the threes go in, things seem to open up — transition plays and layups and Wolves lead by 18.
Blew it open, led 82-54 after 3. Tons of 3’s went down which pretty much caused Detroit to quit. Layups and dunks followed 3’s.
4th Quarter Notes:
Never got close. Barea kept the three-point barrage going. Nice, easy win. Lakers tomorrow night.
Season Record: 25-44
Punch-Drunk Wolves 