The “this is our house and it’s made of pizza, baby” edition:
Barbosa: no denying the extended break did Leandro some good as he came off the bench, tied the team around his waist and absolutely pulled them along like he was the lead husky. Good timing too as he is going to be shopped more this weekend than a full page colour photo in Auto Trader.
Bayless: bringing his minutes back up (20) he provided a nice small 1-2 punch with Jose much like he did pre-injury.Not like his shot was falling, but he provided enough movement off the ball to tire some already weary Piston legs.
Calderon: he’s been offering up more dimes lately than the clubs in the entertainment district. 15 tonight to go along with 8 rebounds and 6 points. Filling up the stat sheet so much they are gonna call him Brita.
Davis: great job tonight in the paint against some big bodies. He, probably more than most, probably got a lot out of some practice time (followed by some rest at night) and it showed tonight. He didn’t back down like he has in some games this year and he attacked the rim as opposed to trying to simply box out and hoping it fell to him.
DeRozan: going to all parts of the floor tonight, inside and outside, and stepping up his defense, Bambi ruled the forest by playing a complete game. Impressive night with 23 points and 7 rebounds.
Gray: with the crowd raining down an MVP chant on my boy in the fourth quarter, you have to think Aaron was having flashbacks to his driveway as a kid. It all seemed so easy as he put up 12 points and pulled down 12 boards for a double double for the ages. We may not wear armour here in Canada, but there definitely wasn’t any dents in our Canada Goose jackets tonight.
A. Johnson: you know when Big Daddy hits that outside shot we are on the road to victory. It just seems when he even just hits one, you can start shooting flares from the arena roof letting the city know that victory is imminent.
J. Johnson: after a few days of being the darling of fan blogs desperate to fill space, JJ comes out and actually lives up to the hype. Block city, bitch!!!! Wasn’t overly impressed after he appeared to be demanding the ball from Jose and Casey after hitting one particular shot, but you do have to feed the (luke warm) hot hand.
Magloire: in a game like this where we are humming along and making hay, bringing Jamaal in is like slipping your favourite shoe on, bending over to tie it, and the lace breaks.
Driving the bus: Jose Calderon
Under the bus: Jamaal Magloire
Theme of the Game:
