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Pistons snap 12-game Palace skid, get great balance in first post-Smith game

Stan Van Gundy devoted a rare three-day stretch of practices to the defensive end after the Pistons lost four straight and yielded 112.5 points a game in the process. So, of course, they responded with their best offensive game of the season.

"I thought we would really show some significant improvement on the defensive end of the floor and I didn't know where we would go offensively," Van Gundy said after the Pistons snapped not only their four-game losing streak but an even more onerous 12-game home skid. "So not only was my teaching sort of backwards, my prognosticating was, too."

He could afford the levity. The Pistons shot more than 50 percent (54.7) for the first time this season, made more baskets (47) and scored more points (119) than in any of their 29 games. They took control with their highest-scoring quarter, a 36-point third-quarter burst.

Time will tell the significance of those numbers and their 10-point win over Indiana, but it can't be ignored that all of it happened in the first game since the Pistons shocked the NBA by waiving their highest-paid player, Josh Smith, with more than 2½ seasons remaining on his contract.

Van Gundy's stated reasons for the decision were to develop young players and diversify the offense, missions he thought would be impossible without reducing Smith's role to a degree that would cause him unrest and the team potential disharmony. Without the frequent touches Smith received on offense – a team-high usage rage that saw him determine a quarter of Pistons possessions while he was on the court – the point guards and everyone else on the roster flourished.

With the caveat that it was a dangerously small sample size, the Pistons got efficient production up and down the roster. Seven players scored in double figures. Nobody took more than 13 shots but eight players attempted at least seven. The Pistons racked up 25 assists against only 11 turnovers.

"It's definitely a sign of how we should play," Brandon Jennings said. "But it's only one game."

Jennings was outstanding as he and D.J. Augustin teamed to give the Pistons their most effective game from the point guard position. Jennings hit 6 of 12 shots, scored 14 points and passed for 10 assists with just one turnover. He could have had another four or five assists, too, on passes that led to Indiana fouls instead of layups. Augustin hit 6 of 8 shots for 14 points and eight assists with just one turnover.

"We need both of them to be aggressive," said Greg Monroe, who in Smith's starting role finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds and three steals in 31 minutes. "When they're aggressive, that opens it up for everybody else. Both of them are very capable of making shots; they're very capable of penetrating. As long as they're aggressive and continue to make the right play, we'll be fine."

"Eighteen assists, two turnovers, 28 points – they were fabulous," Van Gundy said. "It's hard to get on a nightly basis, but literally everybody played well tonight. Everybody we put in the game played well. Our bench was into the game. It was really a team effort all the way around. It was really good to see."

Andre Drummond hit 9 of 12 shots, but they weren't just dunks and layups. Seven of his makes were hook shots from 8, 6, 5, 6, 6, 6 and 6 feet out.

"Today was good just to see Andre get it going early," Jennings said. "He saw that first shot go in and he got a rhythm."

Van Gundy said earlier in the week that he noticed a change in tone during practice when his teammates got on Drummond when he didn't look to make a scoring move from the post.

"Everybody knows that I'm a very unselfish player and I'd rather give the ball up than score, but it's to the point now that I need to be aggressive and attack the basket," he said. "When I start doing that, it opens up our shooters, so I think I did a good job of going into my move and not thinking twice."

"We got post-ups for Andre down low, we got catch-and-shoots for Jodie (Meeks, 13 points on 6 of 9 shooting), we got a lot of people involved," Van Gundy said. "Our ball movement was great."

Van Gundy inevitably was asked if he expects to be questioned now for not moving Smith earlier.

"C'mon, we've won one game now," he said. "Now we're going to jump on 'Josh was the problem?' I'm not going there. What happened tonight is we had a lot of guys play really well. It had absolutely nothing to do with Josh not being here. It had to do with the guys who were here playing really well."

From the other locker room, Pacers coach Frank Vogel was more blunt.

"They changed their whole team around when they waived Josh Smith," Vogel said. "Gave them a breath of fresh air and a big lift. They had four days to sharpen things up. We knew it was going to change into more spacing for them. That's Stan Van Gundy's approach, to play the spacing game. You've got an elite roller in Andre Drummond that is a very difficult challenge. They're making shots. You've got to give them credit. They played a great basketball game."

"They're a good team," Pacers center Roy Hibbert said. "They have a lot of pieces that have been there for a while. I didn't think it would take them long to get the chemistry going again."

And while the Pacers aren't the NBA contender they were a season ago before losing Paul George to injury and Lance Stephenson to free agency, Indiana still entered the game No. 1 in scoring defense (96.1 points) and No. 8 in defensive efficiency.

"They came in as the eighth-best defensive team in the league," Van Gundy said. "So for us to have our best offensive game of the year was pretty remarkable."