With Rip benched on fouls, I thought we were going to have a little OT on our hands.  Chauncey thought different, driving to the rim and drawing a key foul via Marvin Williams with 1.7 seconds remaining.  I’m not sure if it was planned, but Billups’ missed second free throw really did away with any hope for a decent buzzer shot from Atlanta, as Josh Smith struggled to even get a shot off at all.  The Pistons pulled it off 92-91.

Sure is good to have Rip back, he had 12 points in the first 9 minutes and really kept the Pistons on pace with the Hawks.

Jarvis Hayes did an incredible job stepping in for the fouled-out Rip.  He hit a couple of tough clutch shots and grabbed a key rebound that kept the Pistons in the game.  My compliments to Joe D. for having faith in the injury-prone Jarvis.

Joe Johnson is clutch.  He hit two 3s, one way behind the line, to keep Atlanta in the running.

This just in: Josh Smith can block shots.

The refs continue to amaze me with their streaky calling against Detroit.  Now we all now that Tay is an emphasizer on contact, but there were several times he should’ve headed to the line.  I wouldn’t complain so much if they didn’t turn around and hand Josh Smith three free throws on a zero-contact defensive effort from Rasheed with 7.7 seconds left.  I heard Greg Kelser say “They’re letting them play, George” one too many times when the Pistons were on offense.

Next game: Detroit faces Ben “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems” Wallace  and the Chicago Bulls on Thursday, November 8 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.