T H E G R A N D R A P I D S P R ES S
SU N DAY, F E B RUA RY 1 2 , 2 0 17
B7
DETROIT PISTONS STATS Through Friday Player
G
AVG MIN
FGM-FGA
Harris 54 1728.0 346-711 Jackson 33 947.0 192-453 Drummond 53 1625.0 340-639 Morris 53 1742.0 287-676 Caldwell-Pope49 1648.0 245-593 Leuer 48 1291.0 215-422 Smith 53 1249.0 193-434 Udrih 30 420.0 68-150 Bullock 14 217.0 28-65 Baynes 51 784.0 90-182 Johnson 50 831.0 80-203 Marjanovic 22 150.0 32-67 Hilliard 27 290.0 31-96 Ellenson 14 56.0 8-23 Gbinije 9 32.0 1-10 TEAM 54 13010.0 2156-4724 OPPONENTS 54 13010.0 2053-4471
––– Player
OFF
Harris 27 Jackson 15 Drummond 212 Morris 50 Caldwell-Pope39 Leuer 66 Smith 14 Udrih 5 Bullock 6 Baynes 62 Johnson 23 Marjanovic 29 Hilliard 2 Ellenson 2 Gbinije 2 TEAM 554 OPPONENTS 451
REBOUND DEF TOT
250 64 519 190 127 205 126 33 22 137 93 42 25 10 1 1844 1843
277 79 731 240 166 271 140 38 28 199 116 71 27 12 3 2398 2294
3-Pnt. PCT FGM-FGA FTM-FTA
.487 .424 .532 .425 .413 .509 .445 .453 .431 .495 .394 .478 .323 .348 .100 .456 .459
REB AVG.
5.1 2.4 13.8 4.5 3.4 5.6 2.6 1.3 2.0 3.9 2.3 3.2 1.0 .9 .3 44.4 42.5
NBA STANDINGS
Former Detroit Piston Isiah Thomas is honored during a ceremony at halftime of Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Mike Mulholland, MLive.com
A tribute to the past Pistons honor Thomas; Dumars should be next David Mayo
dmayo@mlive.com
AUBURN HILLS — This is why franchises with history and tradition exploit it, and why those without it seek it. Among the best of them, there is a sense of something greater at work than just the transient players who occupy professional sports rosters. The greatest Detroit Piston came home Wednesday to Six Championship Drive, most likely for the last time, and when Isiah Thomas completed his brief halftime address, the first player to greet him with a warm embrace was the best current Piston, Andre Drummond. Thomas closed his eyes and smiled in the big man’s embrace, which was very much representative of the thousands in attendance at The Palace of Auburn Hills who couldn’t hug their favorite individually. The link of present of past, of The Palace’s grand beginnings when Aretha Franklin and Thomas Hearns and Bob Seger made it a place where stars watched stars, and its mercurial final years, including this final Pistons season here, were undeniable. This is why the Pistons’ recent efforts to restore some beloved relationships have been so important. That includes relationships with the 2004 championship team which atrophied in the aftermath of late owner Bill Davidson’s death, but have been addressed in a series of jersey retirements. It also includes relationships with familiar faces from the Bad Boys era. That primarily means Thomas, who spent several years estranged from the team before current owner Tom Gores reengaged him. And eventually, it also must include Joe Dumars, who gave three decades to the Pistons but hasn’t been back since his dismissal as president of basketball operations in 2014. Thomas shared his memories of The Palace, where the Pistons won championships their first two seasons, 1989 and 1990, after moving from the Pontiac Silverdome. He recalled losing Game 7 of the 1988 NBA Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers, and how he and Bill Laimbeer took a back route linking The Forum’s locker rooms to swipe a bottle of champagne and retreat to their own shower. “I’ll never forget this scene, he and I just bawling tears, sitting on the floor, with the water running over us, and just like, ‘You know, one day this is going to happen for us,’” Thomas said. The next year, the Pistons had “that force of energy — there was no way we were going to be denied,” he added. In the same vein, moving back downtown is “closing one chapter and starting another.” Thomas today lauds Davidson as an owner years ahead of his time. It was Davidson who bought the first private plane exclusively for an NBA team, which transformed the way the league travels today. “We really just started upgrading how we traveled, how we played, how we think, how we dress — you know, who we are,” Thomas said. “And the rest of the league really followed that. But we had Bill Davidson as the owner. He was one of those guys that said, ‘OK, if this is the way we’re going to go,
let’s make sure we win.’ And we did.” Davidson’s vision of the future included The Palace, a privately held arena years ahead of its time. Thomas spoke of how the new building empowered the Pistons. Davidson and Thomas had a falling out in the 1990s. Thomas had other NBA roles, including head coach in New York and Toronto, but his contact with the franchise for which he played every minute of his career was minimal. That changed during the 2013-14 season. A 25-year Bad Boys reunion was in planning stage and Gores, in his third season of ownership, quickly realized that the estrangement from Thomas simply would not do. He reached out to the greatest Piston. Thomas unquestionably saw opportunity. Dumars, under fire, was fired as president of basketball operations after that season. Head coach Maurice Cheeks was fired during the season. Thomas met with Gores several times. They talked ownership stake, though there was some misunderstanding about it. Thomas envisioned being awarded a percentage and a major job running the franchise. Gores’ idea was more along the lines of Thomas investing as an equity stakeholder, which can be quite lucrative, especially with NBA franchise values escalating this decade, but not a position of authority. In either case, Stan Van Gundy was hired in the dual role of president-coach in 2014. Gores subsequently bought up all remaining pieces of the Pistons from his fellow investors and became sole owner. There was no room for Thomas in the hierarchy, and his presence diminished again. But it wasn’t an estrangement this time. Thomas has been far more visible around the Pistons, a product of Gores’ efforts. Restoring a relationship with Dumars, the common link in both championship eras, is an essential next step. His absence from the franchise for the last three years was particularly noticeable when he missed the Billups and Wallace jersey retirements. Those were guys he brought here, part of the championship roster he built. Everyone would be best served by moving beyond the messy conclusion to Dumars’ presidency and celebrating everything he contributed here. The Pistons have a tradition few NBA franchises can match. They are going through an important transition in their history. Moving back to downtown Detroit after 39 seasons in Oakland County is a significant moment. Davidson could have moved the Pistons in with the Detroit Red Wings back when Joe Louis Arena was built. He opted for Pontiac instead, then a decade later chose to build The Palace after growing weary of the local bureaucracy. Now, another era begins, part of a continuum that began in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and wound through Olympia Stadium and Cobo Arena, the massive crowds at the Silverdome, the championship years at The Palace, and soon, back downtown again. To remember where the Pistons have been, where they are going, and who they can be, retaining those links with the past is critical.
Through Friday EASTERN CONFERENCE W
L
W
L
Cleveland 36 16 Boston 34 19 Washington 32 21 Toronto 32 22 Atlanta 31 23 Indiana 29 24 Chicago 26 28 Detroit 25 29 Charlotte 24 29 Miami 24 30 Milwaukee 22 30 New York 22 33 Orlando 20 35 Philadelphia 19 34 Brooklyn 9 45 WESTERN CONFERENCE
Pct
GB
.692 .642 .604 .593 .574 .547 .481 .463 .453 .444 .423 .400 .364 .358 .167
– 2½ 4½ 5 6 7½ 11 12 12½ 13 14 15½ 17½ 17½ 28
Pct
GB
Golden State 45 8 .849 – San Antonio 41 12 .774 4 Houston 39 17 .696 7½ Utah 34 20 .630 11½ L.A. Clippers 32 21 .604 13 Memphis 33 23 .589 13½ Oklahoma City 31 23 .574 14½ Denver 24 29 .453 21 Portland 23 31 .426 22½ Sacramento 22 32 .407 23½ Dallas 21 32 .396 24 New Orleans 21 33 .389 24½ Minnesota 20 34 .370 25½ L.A. Lakers 19 37 .339 27½ Phoenix 17 37 .315 28½ Sunday’s Games Chicago at Minnesota, 3:30 p.m. San Antonio at New York, 3:30 p.m. Detroit at Toronto, 6 p.m. New Orleans at Sacramento, 9 p.m. Monday’s Games Philadelphia at Charlotte, 7 p.m. San Antonio at Indiana, 7 p.m. Memphis at Brooklyn, 7:30 p.m. Orlando at Miami, 7:30 p.m. Oklahoma City at Washington, 8 p.m. Detroit at Milwaukee, 8 p.m. Boston at Dallas, 8:30 p.m. Golden State at Denver, 9 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Utah, 9 p.m. New Orleans at Phoenix, 9 p.m. Atlanta at Portland, 10:30 p.m.
70-208 45-126 2-6 83-246 103-267 39-119 16-64 10-28 10-32 0-0 23-76 0-0 9-36 4-14 0-4 414-1226 477-1315
AST
89 186 56 113 141 87 262 91 12 17 68 4 23 4 2 115 124
123-139 82-97 98-227 93-117 100-121 65-73 41-59 24-26 2-4 61-70 26-40 21-27 17-24 1-1 2-2 756-1027 919-1180
AST AVG.
1.6 5.6 1.1 2.1 2.9 1.8 4.9 3.0 .9 .3 1.4 .2 .9 .3 .2 21.4 23.1
PF
85 90 155 104 83 102 83 20 15 114 78 11 31 3 2 976 933
PCT
.885 .845 .432 .795 .826 .890 .695 .923 .500 .871 .650 .778 .708 1.000 1.000 .736 .779
DQ
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
PTS
AVG
STL
TO
885 16.4 511 15.5 780 14.7 750 14.2 693 14.1 534 11.1 443 8.4 170 5.7 68 4.9 241 4.7 209 4.2 85 3.9 88 3.3 21 1.5 4 0.4 5482 101.5 5502 101.9
36 23 92 40 67 22 39 7 6 14 33 2 7 0 0 388 376
70 79 110 57 60 42 77 24 6 36 42 6 20 5 0 661 701
BLK
26 2 67 14 9 18 20 0 3 21 19 8 1 0 0 208 231
Tuesday’s Games Toronto at Chicago, 8 p.m. Cleveland at Minnesota, 8 p.m. Sacramento at L.A. Lakers, 10:30 p.m. Wednesday’s Games San Antonio at Orlando 7 p.m. Indiana at Cleveland, 7 p.m. Philadelphia at Boston, 7:30 p.m. Charlotte at Toronto, 7:30 p.m. Milwaukee at Brooklyn, 7:30 p.m. Dallas at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. New Orleans at Memphis, 8 p.m. Miami at Houston, 8 p.m. Minnesota at Denver, 9 p.m. Portland at Utah, 9 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Phoenix, 9 p.m. New York at Oklahoma City, 9:30 p.m. Atlanta at L.A. Clippers, 10:30 p.m. Sacramento at Golden State, 10:30 p.m.
Spurs 103, Pistons 92 Friday SAN ANTONIO (103) Leonard 11-22 7-9 32, Aldridge 8-18 3-4 19, Dedmon 8-10 1-1 17, Parker 1-4 0-0 2, Green 4-5 0-0 12, Bertans 2-4 0-0 5, Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Lee 5-10 1-1 11, Anthony 0-0 0-0 0, Forbes 0-0 0-0 0, Mills 1-3 0-0 2, Simmons 0-1 0-0 0, Ginobili 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 41-82 12-15 103. DETROIT (92) Morris 4-10 1-2 10, Leuer 4-9 2-2 10, Drummond 5-17 2-5 12, Jackson 5-13 0-0 12, Caldwell-Pope 5-12 0-0 10, Johnson 1-5 0-0 3, Harris 7-12 2-2 16, Baynes 2-5 0-0 4, Smith 6-9 2-2 15. Totals 39-92 9-13 92. San Antonio Detroit
27 19
33 22
23 20–103 25 26– 92
3-Point Goals–San Antonio 9-19 (Green 4-5, Leonard 3-8, Bertans 1-2, Ginobili 1-2, Mills 0-1, Parker 0-1), Detroit 5-17 (Jackson 2-4, Smith 1-1, Johnson 1-3, Morris 1-3, Leuer 0-1, Harris 0-1, Caldwell-Pope 0-4). Fouled Out–None. Rebounds–San Antonio 52 (Dedmon 17), Detroit 35 (Drummond 15). Assists– San Antonio 27 (Parker 12), Detroit 22 (Jackson 7). Total Fouls–San Antonio 18, Detroit 15. Technicals–Morris. A–17,222 (19,971).
NBA
Former Knicks star Oakley banned from Madison Square Garden NEW YORK — Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan banned Charles Oakley from the arena Friday, though said he was open to reconciling with the former Knicks forward. In an interview with ESPN Radio’s Michael Kay, Dolan also confirmed a report that he had fired the Garden’s security chief, two nights after Oakley was forcefully removed from his seat and arrested at a Knicks game. Dolan said the firing of the security head stemmed from more than just the handling of the incident. The Knicks said Oakley was “abusive” Wednesday even before reaching his seat in the first quarter and, on Friday, distributed a witness report featuring more than a dozen witnesses who described his behavior and their interactions with him. Oakley said he did nothing wrong and thanked fans and players for support in a pair of tweets Friday night, adding that he would hold a news conference next week. Dolan said Oakley used racial and sexual overtones and that games must remain safe for fans, so he was enforcing the ban. “We are going to put the ban in place and hopefully it won’t be forever,” Dolan said. The Associated Press
PISTONS
Metta World Peace at peace with The Palace Noah Trister The Associated Press AU BU R N H I L L S — Back at The Palace for perhaps the final
time, Metta World Peace recalled the moment that landed him in basketball infamy. “I see the flashbacks, sometimes. Not necessarily out here — because when the fans are there, it’s cool. But when nobody is in there, you reflect on it,” World Peace said. “Sometimes you can look, and it’s like, I see exactly where everything happened.” World Peace still was known as Ron Artest on Nov. 19, 2004, when he jumped into the stands at The Palace, precipitating perhaps the ugliest melee in NBA history. Now with the Los Angeles Lakers, he was in Auburn Hills for Wednesday night’s game against Detroit. It was the final visit to the arena for the Lakers, since the Pistons are planning to move downtown next season. “It’s different now. I always like to make some jokes, some-
times,” World Peace said. “I come to the building, I’ll just say like, ‘A lot of history here.”’ A lot has happened since that night in 2004, when Artest was a member of the Indiana Pacers and his actions left his career at a crossroads. He was suspended for the rest of that season after the “Malice at the Palace” — but when he returned, he was able to continue what turned out to be a lengthy pro career. Artest played a role when the Lakers won the championship in 2010, and the following year, he even won the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, an honor presented by the Professional Basketball Writers Association. He changed his name to Metta World Peace in 2011. Now 37, World Peace has played only 18 games this season. As his career winds down, he feels a long way removed from the brawl against the Pistons. “I have no choice but to laugh about it now,” he said. “There’s nothing else you can do.”
Pistons beat up, out-toughed by Spurs Detroit Pistons guard Reggie Jackson argues a call with referee Aaron Smith during the second half of Friday night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The Pistons lost to the Spurs 103-92 and were out-rebounded 52-35, including 15-7 on the offensive end. Andre Drummond at 15 rebounds, but no other Detroit player had more than five. AP