Brand overcomes illness, makes Pistons sick instead in win

By Dana Gauruder for NBA.com
Posted Saturday January 9, 2010 11:43PM

AUBURN HILLS (NBA.com exclusive) -- Elton Brand still felt a little queasy when he stepped on the court Saturday night.

Brand missed Philadelphia's loss to Toronto the previous night with a stomach virus. Once he worked up a sweat, he gave the Detroit Pistons a serious case on indigestion.

The mid-range game that made Brand an All-Star with the Los Angeles Clippers, rarely seen since he signed with the Sixers prior to last season, was working all night. He matched his season high with 25 points off the bench as Philadelphia rolled to a 104-94 victory.

"He's coming around," Sixers coach Eddie Jordan said after his team handed the Pistons their 12th straight loss. "His legs are under him and he feels confident. The shots he's knocking down now, for about a month-and-a-half they were all pretty much short. It's a testament to his work ethic. He's in the gym every morning way before everybody else and he's there in the afternoon after everyone has left."

The Sixers stormed to a 56-30 halftime lead, holding Detroit to its lowest scoring half this season, and Brand scored 16 second-half points to ensure the Pistons' second-half run would be futile. His last two baskets came after the Pistons closed to within 12 early in the fourth.

"The minutes are coming," Brand said after his club ended a two-game slide. "Earlier in the season, I didn't play in the fourth quarter.

"Now, the coach and the team have confidence in me and I'm playing more in the second half when it's winning time. That's a big responsibility and I'm ready for it."

He got ready for the game by resting in his hotel room most of the day, taking medicine and staying hydrated.

"Funny, once you pass those lines," he said, "you feel good."

While Brand answered the bell, Allen Iverson was conspicuously absent.

Iverson, who spent a aborted rocky season with the Pistons a year ago, did not travel with the team because of left knee pain.

Iverson scored 22 points in 34 minutes against Toronto Friday night.

He was certain to get heavily booed and face hard questions about leaving the Pistons before the end of last season after losing his starting spot. Pistons first-year coach John Kuester, Larry Brown's long-time assistant in Philadelphia during Iverson's prime, disputed the notion Iverson simply didn't want to go to The Palace.

"AI is one of the ultimate competitors," Kuester said. "If you're able to turn the lights on, he's going to go out and play. That would never be an issue."

With Iverson out of sight and mind, Pistons fans vented their frustration at their club. It was booed off the floor at halftime.

"We don't have a rhythm out there," Ben Gordon said. "With the guys we have on the floor, there's no excuse for that. Guys aren't getting shots where they're supposed to get them at and we don't have great ball movement."

The Sixers didn't have that problem, shooting 57.4 percent. All of their starters scored in double figures, including 16 apiece from Andre Iguodala and Samuel Dalembert and 15 from Iverson's replacement, Willie Green.

"We played with a lot of energy and aggressiveness," Jordan said. "We wanted to attack the rim and Elton carried us for a long stretch."

Points were scarce for their opponent until it was too late.

"The first half was very disappointing," Charlie Villanueva said. "We couldn't get anything right. We didn't play with any sense of urgency."

Gordon and Villanueva combined for 39 points but the Pistons got just 34 points from their starters, partly due to injuries. Tayshaun Prince, sidelined with a back injury most of the season, played only 10 first-quarter minutes because of left knee soreness. Point guard Rodney Stuckey also failed to make it out of the first half, bothered by right knee soreness.

With Richard Hamilton missing virtually every jump shot he took, the Pistons were doomed. Hamilton was 6-for-22, scoring 12 points.

As the losses mount, the Pistons' mainstays are guilty of trying to do too much, rather than play unselfishly. Hamilton kept firing away and Stuckey jacked up eight shots in 15 minutes before departing.

"You can play as hard as you want but if you're not playing hard and smart, you run into a wall," Gordon said. "You're not going to do anything. We have good effort at times but we're not combining that with smart play."

Detroit's biggest accomplishment came in the second quarter when Gordon scored the 10,000,000th regular-season point in NBA history.

Gordon's jumper with 3:51 remaining before halftime achieved the statistical mark.

• 76ers: Brezec, Iverson
• Pistons: Bynum, Summers

• 76ers: --
• Pistons: --

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, MI
• Officials: #43 Dan Crawford, #76 Josh Tiven, #59 Gary Zielinski
• Attendance: 19784
• Duration: 2:26