Stuckey led the Pistons to a perfect 4-0 week despite the absence of Rip Hamilton in all of them and Rasheed Wallace in nearly three full games, averaging 23 points, 5.3 assists and 4.5 rebounds a game.

Since Stuckey moved into the starting lineup on Dec. 17, the Pistons are 10-3 and have won seven straight games – a streak that began with a win over Chicago in which Stuckey erupted for 40 points. Throw in Stuckey’s three other starts this season and the Pistons are 13-3 in those games.

“One thing about Stuckey is that when he sees an opportunity to attack, regardless of what the play call is, he attacks,” Pistons coach Michael Curry said after Stuckey’s 38-point effort in the win over Sacramento last week. “Those are the things we saw withim him and that’s why he’s becoming a really, really good point guard. He’s picking and choosing when to be aggressive.”

Stuckey, the 15th pick in the 2007 draft, had his career stalled when he missed the first 25 games of his rookie season with a broken hand suffered in the final preseason game. But down the stretch of his rookie season, he began to show flashes of becoming an elite NBA point guard, and when Chauncey Billups injured a hamstring in the playoffs, Stuckey stepped in and led the Pistons to consecutive wins over Orlando to win their second-round series.

His strong play continued into the Eastern Conference finals against Boston and eventually gave Joe Dumars the confidence to trade Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson.

“I knew what he could do, just the little spurts that he played in last year, I saw some of the things I’m seeing now,” Iverson said. “It’s just about opportunities. That had a lot to do with the trade happening. Everybody was feeling I was going to come in here and run the point guard and that wasn’t the case. They were already setting him up to be the main point guard on this team. This is a smart organization. They know what they’re doing or they wouldn’t have had the success they’ve had. It was all in the makings and now everybody is seeing that even with a great point guard like Chauncey being gone, we still have one.”

Stuckey’s role has expanded three times this year. First with the trade of Billups, second with his insertion into the starting lineup and finally with the injury to Hamilton that has forced him to miss the last five games and meant heavy minutes for Stuckey.

“It’s different,” Stuckey said after playing 43 minutes against Sacramento. “All I do now is sleep. But I knew that once this trade happened, a lot more was going to be on me. It’s just all about getting better. You guys see me in the gym working on my jump shot after practice. My focus is on being ready to play – and I’m going to continue to get better.”

For one week, at least, he was the best player in a conference that includes the likes of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. It probably won’t be the last.