Stuckey, Pistons surprise Lakers in OT

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Kobe Bryant calmly dribbled to his right and made a 19-foot fadeaway at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.

It would have been easy for the Detroit Pistons to fold — but the mood at The Palace is finally beginning to feel different.

“Kobe, he’s a phenomenal player. He’s going to hit those,” Detroit guard Rodney Stuckey said. “We didn’t hang our heads. We pretty much just dug down deep in overtime.”

Stuckey scored six of his 34 points in overtime, and the Pistons recovered from Bryant’s tying shot to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 88-85 on Tuesday night.

Bryant and Metta World Peace had chances to tie it late in overtime but couldn’t connect from beyond the arc.

“Everyone played a little tired,” Bryant said.

In front of only their third home sellout of the season — with Gladys Knight performing at halftime — the Pistons won despite scoring only nine points in the third quarter. Detroit started 4-20 under new coach Lawrence Frank but has gone 9-6 since.

“When you just have a short amount of time with this lockout and stuff like that — new team, new coach — everything’s brand new,” Stuckey said. “It’s going to take time. It’s all a process.”

Down 74-71 in the fourth, Stuckey shook free of Bryant with a nifty crossover dribble, stepping back to make a shot from near the free throw line. He put the Pistons ahead with a driving layup.

World Peace stole the ball near midcourt and went the other way for a layup to put the Lakers ahead 76-75, but Stuckey’s 3-pointer with 9.8 seconds left gave the Pistons a two-point lead.

Bryant’s shot over Tayshaun Prince forced the extra session, and neither team led by more than three in overtime.

“Nothing went well, and we paid for it with a loss,” Lakers coach Mike Brown said. “I was very disappointed in our team defense. All they did was drive the ball every time, and they got layup after layup after layup.”

Andrew Bynum had 30 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers.

Bryant shot only 8 of 26, finishing with 22 points. He started the game with a black mask protecting his injured nose but switched back to a clear one while struggling through the first half.

“The mask we tried tonight didn’t work,” he said.

“It just slid all over the place.”

Stuckey’s big night leads S&Ds, Pistons’ OT victory over Lakers

It was almost like the good ol’ days at the Palace at Auburn Hills Tuesday night.

A sellout crowd — only the fourth of the season  for the Pistons — turned out to watch the lone appearance by Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers of the year.

And Rodney Stuckey brought back memories of the good days for the Pistons, erupting for 34 points to lead them to an 88-85 overtime victory.

Stuckey scored six points in overtime to lead the Pistons to the win after Bryant hit a shot a tying shot at the end of regulation.

“When you just have a short amount of time with this lockout and stuff like that—new team, new coach—everything’s brand new,” Stuckey told the Associated Press. “It’s going to take time. It’s all a process.”   

After starting the lockout season 4-20, the Pistons have won nine of their last 15 under new coach Lawrence Frank. Stuckey’s recent development has been a major reason.

“Stuckey did an unbelievable job of attacking the paint,” Frank told the AP. “Kobe made a great shot to put the game into overtime and yet our guys kept the resolve.”

STUDS

Detroit G Rodney Stuckey: Erupted for 34 points to lead the Pistons’ overtime victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.  

Boston F Paul Pierce: Scored a game-high 30 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals and was plus-9 in the Celtics’ overtime victory over Houston.

Charlotte F Corey Maggette: Went for 29 points, seven rebounds and was plus-19 in the Bobcats’ victory over Orlando.

Dallas F Dirk Nowitzki: Produced 28 points and was plus-16 in the Mavericks’ victory over New York.

Atlanta F Josh Smith: Notched 27 points, nine rebounds and was plus-9 in the Hawks’ victory at Indiana.  

Miami F LeBron James: Filled the stat sheet for 21 points, nine rebounds, six assists and was plus-20 in the Heat’s victory over New Jersey.

Los Angeles Lakers C Andrew Bynum: Went for 30 points, 14 rebounds, three blocked shots and was plus-8 in the Lakers’ overtime loss to Detroit.

DUDS

Orlando’s forwards: Starters Hedo Turkoglu and Ryan Anderson combined to hit only 7 of 25 from the field with 20 combined points, five turnovers and a combined minus-32 in the Magic’s loss at Charlotte.

New York F Carmelo Anthony: Hit 2 for 12 from the field with two turnovers and was minus-18 in the Knicks’ loss at Dallas.

Indiana F Tyler Hansbrough: Went 1 of 4 from the field with a turnover and was a team-worst minus-13 in the Pacers’ loss to Atlanta.

Houston C Samuel Dalembert: Struggled through a 4-for-11 shooting effort with three turnovers and was a team-worst minus-15 in the Rockets’ overtime loss at Boston.

New Jersey G Gerald Green: Clanked through a 1-for-7 shooting night with three turnovers and was minus-8 in the Nets’ loss at Miami.

Detroit C Greg Monroe: Went 1 of 10 from the field and was minus-6 in the Pistons’ overtime victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

New York G Jeremy Lin: Struggled through a 4-for-13 shooting effort with two turnovers and was minus-11 in the Knicks’ loss at Dallas.

Mavs assistant Dwane Casey in line for Toronto head job

It’s been a whirlwind the last several days for Dallas Mavericks’ lead assistant Dwane Casey.

Last week, the Mavericks claimed their first title. Casey helped celebrate with all of his team once they got back to Dallas later in the week.

And Casey also had what appears to be a successful job interview with Toronto general manager Bryan Colangelo.

Enough that the Dallas Morning News is reporting that Casey  perhaps as soon as later this afternoon.

Casey interviewed with the Raptors twice over the last several days. He apparently has beaten out Boston lead assistant and former New Jersey head coach Lawrence Frank.  

Casey, a former Kentucky standout in college, has most recently served as the top assistant coach under Rick Carlisle for the Mavericks. Earlier, he was the head coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves over 1-1/2 seasons — a span during which the Timberwolves were 53-69. The Timberwolves were 20-20 in the 2006-07 when Casey was fired by then-GM Kevin McHale, who said he believed the team was a playoff contender. Randy Wittman took over, and the team finished 12-30 in its remaining 42 games.

Casey will take over the vacant job created when Jay Triano was demoted after more than two seasons as Toronto’s head coach.

Frank apparently has now emerged as the created when John Kuester’s contract wasn’t renewed, the Toronto Star reports.