Hou Chron - Pistons flash championship mettle against Rockets

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Pistons flash championship mettle against Rockets

Bad shooting night lets champions overcome mistakes

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle


AUBURN HILLS, MICH. - The Pistons raised their banner and handed out their rings.

The trophy was very shiny, and the 22,076 fans who packed the Palace to celebrate winning it screamed themselves hoarse. The Detroit newscasters were ready to declare a winner.

The Rockets missed the whole to-do but might have seen something much more valuable. Championships — and season openers — are not won with how you start but how you finish.

The Pistons beat the Rockets 87-79 in Tuesday's season opener but not with all that two-fisted defense and all-for-one stuff they talk about. They won by doing things well, better than they had all night, when they had to — in the closing minutes.

"What they did at the end of the game — they got shots off offensive rebounds, they took care of the ball, and that's what championship teams do," Rockets guard Jim Jackson said. "That's how we lost the game. Yeah, we missed shots. They did, too. But we didn't execute offensively and defensively when we needed to in the clutch situation.

"That same turnover in the first half doesn't beat you. At the end, it does. And that's the difference."

For all the Rockets' offensive struggles and occasional defensive breakdowns, how the teams finished was the greatest difference between the radically retooled Rockets and the reigning champions.

The Rockets had their problems. The grand unveiling of Tracy McGrady started with a 1-of-8 first half. He was 6-of-18 overall with three turnovers and one assist.

"We had a lot of open jump shots tonight. They just didn't go down," McGrady said. "I know for me, I wanted to come out and play, but I was just thinking about getting everyone involved. Once we get comfortable with one another, we're going to be tough."

Yao Ming added all of seven points. The Rockets made just 39.4 percent of their shots. The offense became so unwieldy, the Rockets had just eight assists, none in the fourth quarter.

"We need to start playing better team basketball," Yao said. "Right now, we're not consistently and continually attacking. I think that we are close. We played very well for 36 minutes. But we just need to be able to do it for the entire game."

For much of the night, the Pistons were no better. After three quarters, the game was tied at 59. The Rockets had made 41.4 percent of their shots; the Pistons had made 42 percent.

The teams had stretches when they were equally ugly.

Then the game changed, until it was clear someone would have to play well, rather than less poorly, to win.

Before shooting, the Rockets opened their eyes.

The Pistons removed their championship rings.

Shots began to fall. Three-pointers danced through nets.

Or at least it seemed that way after a first half in which the Rockets and Pistons could have as effectively kicked the ball to the rims, which Antonio McDyess once tried, earning an automatic ejection.

In the third period, the teams combined to make five straight shots, all 3s, in an exchange that left the Rockets in front 59-55.

But if there was a team likely to maintain a shooting touch, it was the reigning champions on their court, not the team that has not shot well since the Chicago Bulls were at Toyota Center for a preseason game on Oct. 21.

The Pistons opened the fourth quarter by making three consecutive 3s during a 13-2 run that gave them a 68-61 lead. When Ben Wallace got inside Yao to punch down a tip-dunk midway through the fourth quarter, the Pistons' lead was their largest of the night, 76-66.

On a night of horrid shooting, Wallace had taken six shots and made six shots.

The Rockets lost when they gave away a few final, decisive possessions. Rasheed Wallace slammed home an offensive rebound for a seven-point lead. With the Rockets down six with 28 seconds left, Jackson lost the ball, and Chauncey Billups scored on a a breakaway layup.

"We still feel confident," Rockets forward Maurice Taylor said. "We came in at halftime feeling we could have been up a whole lot more if we had been hitting shots.

"They had 37 points at the half and shot 21 free throws. So we felt like we were doing a good job defensively and getting shots we wanted.

"But we have to hit those shots down the stretch. When teams come at us harder, we have to be able to get something going."

No one comes harder with the game on the line than do the Pistons. If that was not clear when the jewelry was passed out, it was when the night was over.

"That's why," Yao said, "they're the champions."


jonathan.feigen@chron.com


Rockets Summary

A good hand
When the Rockets set their roster Monday, guard Andre Barrett went from cut by the Knicks to employed by Houston in one week.

But the Rockets had offered Barrett a place in training camp before he went with the Knicks, and Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said he believes Barrett can help the team even when he does not play.

"Pretty good understanding of the game," Van Gundy said. "He makes our other point guards look big. He's got good quickness.

"We want to simulate the type of pressure other teams put on us with pick-and-rolls and transition. I think he can do that. That's good."


A Pistons fan

Flipping through the channels the other night, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy stumbled across a broadcast of last season's NBA Finals pitting the Pistons and Lakers and found great entertainment. It was not a temptation to scout.

"No. You walk to the refrigerator in mid-possession," he said. "I'm not going to miss my food. That was an enjoyment type of thing, watching a team play well."

Van Gundy marveled at the Pistons' performance and success, but he disputed the argument at the time that the Pistons overachieved without great talent and exposed the Lakers' shortcomings.

"When that was all being talked about, you chuckled to yourself," he said. "If you looked at them ... the one undrafted player was Ben Wallace, who went through a process to become a star. But Chauncey Billups, third pick (of a draft). ( Richard) Hamilton, seventh. Rasheed ( Wallace), fourth. Lindsey Hunter, 10th. ( Tayshaun) Prince, 23rd. Now they added Antonio McDyess, the second pick. It's a very talented team. Just because they might not have done some commercials does not mean they are not great players.

"They did it also with depth. They were more able to withstand an injury than LA was when they took an injury to ( Karl) Malone."


No crowd favorites
With his move to the Western Conference, Tracy McGrady will have his returns to Toronto reduced to one each season.

This year's trip comes tonight in the Raptors' season opener.

But for a change, McGrady will not be alone in getting booed. Vince Carter, who has demanded a trade, was greeted with a mix of boos and cheers during preseason introductions, a change that shocked McGrady.

"At home? Wow," McGrady said. "That's all I have to say about that.

"When you get booed on your home court, that's pretty bad. I feel bad for him."