Wallace wins it

The Pistons escaped Conseco Fieldhouse with their second narrow win this season thanks to a dominant performance by Rasheed Wallace. = Detroit trailed 18-8 out of the gate continued to play from behind until Wallace sparked a late first-half rally. Leading by two at halftime, the Pistons could not pull away from the Pacers, who shot an uncanny 50 percent from beyond the arc, draining five of their 12 triples in the third quarter.

Still leading by two, Wallace knocked down his only 3-pointer with 3:43 remaining. He then blocked Danny Granger’s drive on the next possession, leading to a fast break and Rip Hamilton jumper. The seven-point lead did not last. Leading 106-104 with 1:02 left, the Pistons suffocated the Pacers on an inbounds play. Granger’s miss was rebounded by Tayshaun Prince, who scored the last of his 17 points at the other end, putting Detroit up by four, 108-104, with 40 seconds to play. The Pacers last legitimate hope was snuffed out by Wallace, who raced over from the elbow to partially block a Travis Deiner triple try in the corner.

SAUNDERS: “I think what happened a little bit is (the starters) were kind of sluggish, our bench guys came in with good energy got us back in the game got us within four or six and you see the energy those guys played with and I think it got (Sheed) interested in playing.”

The story of the game in Pistons red, white and blue

– Stretches of dominance in the second and third quarter and key plays at both ends of the floor in the fourth quarter led to predictably big numbers for Wallace: 24 points on 10-of-18 from the floor with 10 rebounds and three blocks. Think the Pacers were missing Jermaine O’Neal much?

Blue Collar – With 13 rebounds (six offensive), 10 points on 50 percent shooting and a surprising five assists, Antonio McDyess once again deserved the honor. But the bench deserves mention too. The top five reserves each played at least 10 minutes, and all five had positive +/- rating. Jarvis Hayes led the bench with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Both McDyess and Hayes had commendable efforts that will be overshadowed by Wallace’s sterling night.

Red Flag – Pacers forward Mike Dunleavy historically has not been a thorn in the Pistons’ side, but he had the look of one in the first half. Dunleavy was the hottest of Indiana’s gunners, shooting 7-for-10 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, for 18 points. But the Pistons’ more deliberate tempo prevailed in the second half and their defense intensified. The result: Indiana scored 10 fewer points in the second half while Dunleavy shot only five more times. He finished with 25 points and seven assists.

Pivotal plays, frozen moments and lasting images of complete team effort

Bench boost – After Prince scored over Dunleavy to make it a five-point game with 9:27 left in the second quarter, the Pistons went six minutes without a point from a starter. Rodney Stuckey inititated some offense with a beautiful crossover from left to right across the lane before pulling up confidently for the midrange jump shot. The 6-foot-5 rookie scored over the 6-foot-9 Dunleavy for his next bucket, then drew fouls on Dunleavy and 6-foot-11 Troy Murphy – but went only 1-for-4 at the line. Stuckey’s five points were among 16 by the Pistons bench in the quarter.

STUCKEY: “Absolutely this is what the bench is here to do. We’re supposed to provide energy for the starters, and that’s what we did. We came in the game, it was full-court press a couple times and got some stops and went from there.”

Posting up – Fans who want to see Wallace in the post more frequently should not have missed the end of the second quarter. Wallace scored 11 points as he ignited – commanded, really – the Pistons on a 16-4 lead-changing run. Wallace started with two dunks and a turnaround bank shot. After he drew a foul on Murphy in the lane and completed a three-point play, Murphy was replaced by David Harrison. Next trip down, Wallace made another turnaround into the lane over Harrison to give Detroit’s its first lead, 57-55, with 1:00 remaining. A Chauncey Billups buzzer-beater put the Pistons ahead at halftime, 59-57.

Brute strength – The start of the play was a McDyess offensive rebound. After a pass to Billups and pass back to McDyess, it ended with a pass into the lane that found Wallace in stride on his way to a dunk. McDyess board, Sheed dunk. The Pistons had a lot of those types of plays from their frontcourt in the third quarter. The Pacers outscored the Pistons in fast-break points and from long range, but their small ball style had no answers defensively. Dice and Sheed combined for 14 of the Pistons’ first 20 points in the third.

SAUNDERS: “Both (McDyess) and Sheed did a nice job. (Indiana) went small but we did not have to match up with them. We were able to stay with our size, which in the end helped us from the standpoint of rebounding-wise, helped from the standpoint of going into the post and control tempo and helped us being able to protect the basket down the stretch.”

Here’s Amir – Amir Johnson’s one-handed put-back slam of a Stuckey miss in the fourth quarter was simply spectacular – the kind of play more commonly provided by Jason Maxiell. On the next possession, Johnson tried to put the ball on the floor but didn’t get squared up properly, and he lost the ball to Murphy. The former is why he’s playing, the latter why it took a few months before it happened. Johnson finished with six points and six rebounds.

BILLUPS: “All the young guys played great together. Amir was great, man, especially in a high-energy game, when we didn’t really have much energy in the first quarter. He came in and got some offensive rebounds, some tip-ins and some blocks. I mean, he was great.”

A little perspective on Sheed’s big night

A slow start was masked by positive contributions from the bench, especially Stuckey and Johnson – and isn’t that what everyone wants to see? But nothing is more exciting to watch than Rasheed Wallace when at the top of his game. After being held scoreless in the first quarter, Wallace asserted himself, and it’s scary how good the Pistons can be when he gets what he wants offensively. On Thursday Wallace and the Pistons get the Lakers – who also happen to be missing their starting big man, Andrew Bynum.