Vincent Goodwill Jr.

The Detroit News





Auburn Hills — If there was ever a low point to this Pistons season, particularly for The Palace crowd, this was it.

As Kobe Bryant got hot after a slow start, pushing the Lakers to the verge of a blowout against a Pistons team with a comparable record, the purple-and-gold segment of the crowd rose to its collective feet.

One fadeaway jumper turned into a transition 3-pointer, followed by Bryant giving the "3" signal to the standing, cheering, Lakers jersey-wearing fans, and sealing the 106-96 victory the Lakers put on the Pistons Tuesday, and giving the Pistons their ninth straight loss.

Bryant keyed a 24-9 run to start the third after the Pistons trailed by one, and the Lakers pushed the lead to 21. It took a desperate effort from the second unit in the fourth quarter to make the score respectable, but Wesley Johnson's corner 3-pointer with 1:35 left all but finished things, pushing the lead to 12.

After the Pistons shot a season-low 36.3 percent against the excellent Golden State Warriors Sunday, they showed they could be just as pitiful against a bad defensive team, shooting 36.7 percent, and hitting on six of their 21 3-pointers.

Mount Van Gundy erupted afterwards, saying his team played harder in the preseason and claimed every team has played harder than the Pistons since their loss in Memphis a couple weeks ago.

"There's no dilemmas in the preseason. No dilemmas," Van Gundy said. "No one cares how many shots they're getting. Everybody knows everybody's gonna play so everybody's spirits are up. You're not worried about stats. … No one cares. Same in practice. You practice hard, do what you're supposed to do."

The Lakers scored 60 in the second half, while shooting 48 percent and hitting 10 of their 17 3-point attempts. It negated a great start from Josh Smith, who was on his way to a triple-double in the first half but had to settle for a team-high 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in 33 minutes.

"I think we took a lot of tough shots with people open," Van Gundy said. "We have to show them those things. I have to do my job better. I'm not gonna say I have a selfish team or lazy team. We have a messed up team."

Pistons issues aside, Bryant (12 points) was clearly the attraction, even if he can't score 40 on call anymore.

The "MVP" chants that came from the crowd when Bryant took free throws after a technical foul on Stan Van Gundy reflected what he's done in his 19 years, and were fitting considering it was Van Gundy who unraveled after an out-of-bounds call didn't go the Pistons' way.

The Palace turn to Fabulous Forum Midwest has been seen before, as Detroit has long been a haven for Bryant fans. He seemed to bask in the adulation from the crowd with the game in hand, standing 60 feet away from the action while teammate Jeremy Lin took free throws.

But it didn't take a vintage Bryant performance to get this crowd riled up. In fact, 12 was the fewest points he's scored against the Pistons since his rookie season.

Bryant came off a triple-double in the Lakers previous win against the Toronto Raptors, and kept playing facilitator early against a defense determined not to let the old man get off.

Before Bryant heated up, it was Nick Young who took advantage of the Pistons defense, repeatedly getting fouled on pump fakes and shot attempts. The only Laker with the gumption to be aggressive when Bryant was on the floor took advantage of every mistake, scoring 19.

Lakers center Jordan Hill converted shots in the paint, scoring 22 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in 30 minutes.

Bryant's 13 assists helped spread the wealth for the Lakers offense.

For the Pistons, there was nothing to spread but the blame.

vgoodwill@detroitnews.com

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