The Pistons Young Blood Run Show Against Timberwolves

For those who came to the game thinking they were were going to see Rasheed Wallace, Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton...April Fools!!! Yes, with the Playoffs near Flip Saunders decided to give the trio some rest.

The Starters looked more like this...Tayshaun Prince, Antonio Mcdyess, Theo Ratliff, Jarvis Hayes and Rodney Stuckey.

With only two regular starters playing for the Pistons, The Timberwolves were dominating. Yes, they made more runs than someone with a bad bout of diarrhea. They led by 12 in the first quarter. In the second quarter their 12 point lead grew to a 21 point lead and the Pistons were looking more and more hopeless.

Finally in the second quarter, Amir Johnson stopped the Timberwolves run with a block. The Pistons then went on a 14 - 0 run cutting the Timberwolves 21 point lead to 5 at the end of the second. The guys who played part in the run was the bench, Walter Herrman, Juan Dixon and Cheikh Samb, along with Rodney Stuckey who did a superb job filling in for Chauncey Billups.

In the third quarter the Timberwolves got the runs once again, but the Pistons fought back and was only down by 7 at the end of the third. In the fourth quarter, the Pistons got off to a great start by scoring 7 straight. First Juan Dixon scored back to back points, cutting the Timberwolves lead to three, then Amir Johnson made a three point play tying the game 72 - 72. Later in the fourth, Rodney Stuckey tied the game 80 - 80 after driving to the basket for another three point play.

With the clock winding down and the game tied 88 - 88, Amir Johnson made another great play, stealing the ball and handing it off to Rodney Stuckey who knoced down a point, giving the Pistons their first lead. From then on, Rodney took over the game Chauncey Billups style, knocking down big shot after big shot and driving hard to the basket. Rodney's last four points was made at the free throw line. That was very exciting to watch, because you can see how much he's learned from the veteran Chauncey Billups. The Pistons beat the Timberwolves 94 - 90.

Rodney stuckey led the way with 27 points and 3 assists in 33 minutes. Amir Johnson had 5 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 30 minutes.