11-18-2019, 01:27 AM
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. Joe Pepitone Jersey . -- After one of his worst games of the season, Andre Drummond got a little pep talk from Detroit coach Maurice Cheeks. "I told him at shootaround that hes human," Cheeks said. "Hes entitled to have a bad game. Its important to see how you bounce back." Drummond had 13 points and 17 rebounds, and the Pistons snapped a four-game losing streak with a 103-87 win over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night. Drummond bounced back from a poor outing at Dallas over the weekend, and Detroit led comfortably throughout the second half. Detroit has struggled to close out games at home this season, but this time the Pistons turned a double-digit lead into a rout. "We needed it a lot. Were losing, a lot of bad things are around in the air -- a lot of negative energy," Detroit guard Will Bynum said. "Just happy to get a win." Brandon Jennings had 20 points and eight assists for Detroit, and Josh Smith added 16 points. Victor Oladipo scored 19 points for the Magic. Detroit finished with 17 offensive rebounds -- 12 in the first half -- and outscored Orlando 44-22 in the paint. The Magic started former Piston Jason Maxiell for this game, giving themselves a little more size against Detroits imposing front line. It was no use. Drummond, Smith and Greg Monroe went a combined 17 for 30 from the field. Monroe finished with eight points and 11 rebounds. "Sometimes it is just as simple as finding someone ... and boxing them out," Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said. "You need to do that on 10 defensive possessions out of 10, not six out of 10 or nine out of 10, and we werent even close to that, especially in the first half. When a shot goes up, find someone and get a body on them." Drummond had only four points against Dallas, and he had a scary start in this one. He stayed down for a bit holding his left leg with 6:34 left in the first quarter -- after his shoe came off during a scramble near the basket. Drummond was able to walk off the court, and he was back in the game almost immediately. His putback gave Detroit a 12-11 lead. Maxiell missed a dunk at the other end, and although the Magic led by two after the first quarter, Detroit controlled the second to take a 53-43 halftime lead. Drummond said Cheeks pregame message helped him. "Last game was a tough game for me," Drummond said. "He knows I really get down on myself if I do anything wrong. For him to tell me that today at the shootaround really gave me a boost to want to be great tonight." Monroes layup off a pass from Smith capped a 9-0 run that gave the Pistons a 70-55 lead in the third. It was 78-60 at the end of the quarter. "We have to be tougher," Orlandos Jameer Nelson said. "Every guy on this team needs to take pride and ownership in their individual performance and the teams performance. We didnt do that tonight, not at all." Detroit was only 7-5 at home when leading after three quarters, but there would be no late collapse in this one. Jennings connected from beyond the arc to make it 85-63, and the Pistons led by as many as 26. "Weve got a lot of talent on this team, and we just have to figure out the right chemistry of players, at the right times," Bynum said. Bynum gave a cryptic response when asked if players are still trying to learn roles. "You dont want to know what I think -- its out of my pay grade to tell you what I think," Bynum said. "Hopefully things just really turn around, and we string up some wins." NOTES: Rodney Stuckey scored 13 for the Pistons, leaving him with 6,005 points for his career. ... Maxiell had two points and one rebound in 14 minutes. ... Tobias Harris and Arron Afflalo had 14 points each for Orlando. ... The Magics Maurice Harkless missed all six of his free throws. ... Nelson went 3 of 9 from the field and was called for an early technical foul. He finished with 11 points and seven assists. Joe Pepitone Cubs Jersey . Many of those eyes are in the United States of America, a country that the sport has wanted on its side for some time. On Sunday the football Gods delivered once again, only this time it was time for good old USA to experience as much heartache as joy. Ian Happ Cubs Jersey . The 155th edition of the Plate for Canadian-foaled three-year-olds, the oldest continuously run stakes race in North America, will be televised live on TSN in HD (High Definition) in a special presentation from 4:30 – 6:00 pm ET. Post time is 5:38 pm. https://www.cheapcubs.com/2440t-jody-dav...-cubs.html . Although head coach Randy Carlyle jokingly wondered how much actual training Bolland got done while in London. "I dont know how much training goes on when you go back to the junior team that you played for so I wouldnt read too much into that," laughed Carlyle after the Maple Leafs were put through an up-tempo practice that concluded with a 10-minute bag skate on Thursday.REGINA - Olympic gold-medal favourite Mark McMorris is in "great spirits," despite a fall that fractured a rib and nearly derailed his dream. Don McMorris, the snowboarders father, says Mark is moving around quite well after the incident during Saturdays slopestyle event at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo. "When we left him (Sunday), he could bend over and touch his toes because of where (the injury) is at," Don McMorris told The Canadian Press on Monday. "You know a cracked rib in the front, you couldnt do that, but where its at (around the back), he could bend to his toes and could raise his knees up to kind of his chest. "He was really doing better than we all thought. Hes got five or six days before he has to worry about riding and hes got the best people around him." Mark McMorris caught his snowboard on the lip of a rail and went sliding down the bar on his right side before landing hard on the snow during the final. He stayed on the ground for a few minutes before riding down the hill under his own power. It seems the 20-year-old Regina native lost focus. "He probably hit that rail through the week, I dont know 50 times, and never had a problem with it or any of the rails because thats, I think, one of the strongest parts of his riding," said Don McMorris, who was in Aspen when his son fell. "But obviously he was focused on what he was going to do on the jump line because he was going to try something pretty major." Don McMorris says his son didnt hurt much at first, but the pain got worse as the afternoon wore on. Mark McMorrris finished with a silver medal at the event, but was "pretty down," said his father. Adbert Alzolay Jersey. Mark McMorris had said being an Olympian is a dream come true. He was the two-time defending Winter X Games champion in slopestyle. When he was named to the Olympic team earlier this month, McMorris said hes been "preparing like a mad man." The fall raised questions as to whether he could compete in Sochi. "He was really scared, not necessarily about his own well-being, I dont think, but that he wouldnt get to go to the Olympics," said Don McMorris. "That was really playing on his mind and when he does that, he just gets really quiet and doesnt really talk or say much to anybody. "And you could just tell that he was really scared and worried about not getting to fulfil his dream." The elder McMorris says the tough part was waiting to hear what the team doctors had to say. He describes it as an agonizing wait of about three hours. They eventually decided Mark would go to Sochi, as planned. "I cant tell you what he said because that would not be printable," joked Don McMorris. "He was really relieved." A fractured rib usually takes six weeks to heal, so Mark McMorris wont have time to fully recover before the Games start Feb. 7. But his father is cautiously optimistic. "Yes, Im optimistic, (I) have to be," he said. "I mean maybe too optimistic because theres going to be a lot of pain and . . . you dont know how the body will react, but compared to what it could have been, were pretty happy." ' ' '