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Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Pistons 87, Heat 83

Exhibition season starts on high note

Ted Kulfan / The Detroit News

Auburn Hills -- Good defense, contributions from a variety of players, a spirited return by Ben Wallace.

OK, it was the first exhibition game, but the Pistons will gladly take Monday's 87-83 victory over the Miami Heat.

"In any environment, you want to win," said coach John Kuester, making his debut on the Pistons bench. "What was neat about tonight, at times, the things we'd been talking about the last 10 practices came to fruition in regard to the way we defended and shared the basketball."

The Pistons held the Heat to 37 percent shooting and had impressive offensive balance in the first game under Kuester.

Will Bynum had 15 points and Chris Wilcox scored 11 to lead the Pistons. Ben Wallace had four points, four rebounds and two assists in 11-plus minutes, exciting the crowd with a putback dunk in the first quarter.

Speaking of Bynum, Kuester said: "He's a sparkplug. He can really give us a tremendous amount of energy."

Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 18 points.

He supplied one of the highlights, but not the way he's used to. Pistons rookie Austin Daye blocked Wade's breakaway dunk attempt in the second quarter, much to the delight of the sparse crowd at The Palace.

"It was a great block," Kuester said. "Our guys really tried to compete. Our rookies, they don't know who they're playing against at times. They just want to compete."

Another highlight was a brief scuffle in the fourth quarter between rookie Jonas Jerebko and the Heat's Jamaal Magloire. Both players took wild swings while sprawled on the floor after wrestling for a rebound.

Referees ejected both players after viewing video replay.

The game was worked by replacement referees, with the regular officials locked out. It showed at times. In the fourth quarter, referees sent the wrong shooter (Bynum) to the free throw line before correcting the error (Maceo Baston).

Big Ben returns
When the Pistons signed Wallace over the summer, many people thought it was more for insurance. The idea of Wallace making a significant contribution seemed like a reach.

But there Wallace was Monday in the starting lineup.

Granted, Charlie Villanueva 's hamstring injury likely was a significant factor. But listening to Kuester rave about Wallace, it sounds like he was going to get big minutes regardless.

"If Ben Wallace wasn't doing the things he'd been doing in practice, he wouldn't be playing," Kuester said. "But if he continues to do the things he's doing right now, he will play because he deserves to play."

Kuester and Wallace were together during the Pistons' championship run in 2004, and for the last two seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where Kuester was an assistant coach.

Slam dunks
Villanueva's status is day-to-day, although he likely would be playing if this were the regular season.

"One of the things we're making sure is he understands we're in this thing for the long haul," Kuester said. "Slowly but surely, he's working his way into it."

ted.kulfan@detnews.com (313) 223-4606