mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">LOS ANGELES —"Times New Roman""> After the Pistons lost to the Los Angeles Clippers in
overtime Sunday afternoon, a morose looking Rodney Stuckey sat at his locker
with his left foot in a large yellow bucket of ice-filled water.
What made the 87-83 defeat worse for Stuckey was the knowledge that not only
should the Pistons have won the game, he could have made the difference.
Stuckey was averaging 25.4 points and shooting 54 percent from the field in his
last seven games.
But on Sunday, Stuckey could only manage seven points on 1-of-8 shooting, one
rebound and five assists. It was the first time in 10 games that he did not
score in double figures.
Stuckey said his sore left big toe has been bothering him for a couple of games
and he aggravated it in the first quarter Sunday. He went to the locker room to
get it taped up and did come back in the second quarter.
"I know I could have done way better than what I did out there,"
Stuckey said. "It sucks when you know you're not at your full potential,
you can't cut and move the way you want to. I know that for sure, if I was 100
percent, it would be a whole different story. I think we would have won the
game."
Although he tried to play, Stuckey couldn't do the things he usually does and
couldn't help his team the way he wanted to.
"I know I get a lot of attention of me, guys focus on me a lot more and
when that happens, it opens up a lot more things for my teammates,"
Stuckey said. "Me having the ability to get to the basket, get to the
free-throw line, stuff like that, it really hurt us tonight."
Tayshaun Prince, who had 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting but could not get a shot
off at the end of regulation with the game tied at 74, admitted that Stuckey
could have been the one to put the Pistons over the top.
"Obviously we could tell in the first quarter that something was
wrong," Prince said. "He mentioned it before the game. Obviously when
he's in attack mode we're a completely different team.
"But it shows that we have some guys that can step up and make some plays.
We just didn't make enough. But obviously when we have our No. 1 driver is
hurt, it's tough for us."
The Pistons are a young team, which is why they have had trouble closing out
games, especially on the road. They led by as many as nine points in the fourth
quarter and had a 74-69 lead with 2:05 to play.
"We get to the moment of truth and some similar things…we have to get better
at," coach Lawrence Frank said. "We keep putting ourselves in this
positions and the next step is finishing out games.
"From a coaching standpoint and playing standpoint, we have to get quality
shots in the fourth quarter. It’s amazing — a bounce here and bounce there, a
jump ball, we win it but they get possession. That’s part of the grind and dirt
you fight through to overcome these things."
After scoring 23 and 24 points in the second and third quarters, the Pistons
only managed nine in the fourth and nine more in overtime.
"I thought we forced them to play our style of basketball," Ben
Wallace said. "At least until overtime, in the end they took control of
the game and made plays when they needed to make them and we didn't. It was our
game to win and we didn't get it done down the stretch."
Chris Paul, the Clippers’ All-Star point guard, had a lot to do with that.
Paul had four points, 11 assists and six rebounds through three quarters. He
finished with 19 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds.
"Fourth quarter he just did what superstars do, took over the game and it
ended up being the difference for them," said Greg Monroe, who had his
22nd double-double of the season with 23 points and 15 rebounds.
The Pistons are now 4-18 on the road and 1-3 so far on the current road trip.
Although Stuckey may not be a superstar yet like Paul, there's little doubt
that had he been healthy, they would be 2-2 on the trip.
"I have been playing really good basketball," Stuckey said. "I
just gotta try to get it right, try to get back to normal, get 100 percent. So
hopefully these next couple days I get right and try to be out there for Denver
(on Wednesday) to get a victory."
