01-03-2020, 08:00 AM
Auburn Hills, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - Greg Monroe racked up 23 points and 18 rebounds and the Detroit Pistons held off the New York Knicks down the stretch for a 98-95 victory, their first of the Stan Van Gundy era. Monroes monster performance and a 20-point effort out of Kentavious Caldwell- Pope got Detroit in the win column after opening Van Gundys first season as head coach with three straight losses. We made it a little tougher than it had to be, but definitely happy to get the win, Monroe said. The Pistons dominated the glass, outrebounding the Knicks by a 55-43 margin and recording 19 second-chance points, and went 11-of-23 from 3-point range in addition to playing lockdown defense on Carmelo Anthony for much of the night. Andre Drummond added 13 rebounds and Josh Smith had 10. Smith finished a rough 2-of-17 from the field but shined on the other end, leading an effort that held Anthony without a basket in the first half and a 5-of-21 shooting performance for the game. I thought early on he was trying to do the right thing and not look to attack too early, make sure everybody was involved and I think that made it a little harder for him to find his rhythm, Knicks head coach Derek Fisher said about Anthony. Anthony got on track late to end with 13 points, and New York cut a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit down to two before ultimately being dealt a second loss in as many nights. Tim Hardaway Jr. paced the Knicks with 20 points while filling the sixth-man role of J.R. Smith, suspended for the game for striking Washingtons Glen Rice Jr. in the groin on Tuesday. Jason Smith contributed 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting for New York, which received 15 points each from Iman Shumpert and Amare Stoudemire. The Pistons built a 49-37 lead at halftime behind their prowess on the boards and Anthonys struggles, then extended the margin to as high as 18 points in the third quarter after Jonas Jerebko buried a triple following a Monroe tip- in to make the score 72-54 with under two minutes left in the period. Detroit remained on cruise control for much of the fourth quarter, owning an 89-74 advantage with less than five minutes left before the Knicks came storming back. Stoudemire scored the first seven points of a 12-2 run capped by Hardaways layup off a turnover that trimmed the lead to 91-86 with 2:08 to go. It was a 97-94 game when Hardaway drained a long three with 7.3 seconds to play, and Caldwell-Pope missed twice from the line on the ensuing possession to give New York a chance at a tie. Shumpert was fouled before getting off a shot, however, and made just 1-of-2 from the stripe to bring the Knicks within two. His desperation 3-point try from well beyond half-court was well off the mark at the buzzer, and came after Brandon Jennings hit 1-of-2 foul shots for the final score. An 8-0 run spurred by the bench enabled the Pistons to gain separation early in the second quarter. D.J. Augustin began the surge with five straight points and Jerebko capped it with a long-range triple to put Detroit up 35-24 four minutes into the period. The Pistons were up by as many as 15 in the first half and maintained a double-digit cushion for the majority of the second quarter. Anthonys first basket after nine straight misses, which came just over three minutes into the second half, brought the Knicks within 53-44. However, Detroit countered with a 9-2 flurry that featured one of Caldwell-Popes four makes from long distance and ended on Drummonds putback dunk, which gave the Pistons a commanding 62-46 lead nearing the midway mark of the third quarter. Game Notes Monroe had 18 points and 11 rebounds in his season debut Saturday against Brooklyn, having served a two-game suspension for a DUI arrest to begin the campaign ... Knicks guard Pablo Prigioni did not return after spraining his right ankle early in the second quarter ... The Pistons entered the game last in the NBA in 3-point percentage (21.9 percent) ... Hardaways father, Tim Sr., currently serves as a Pistons assistant under Van Gundy ... Anthony was coming off an 8-of-23 shooting effort in Tuesdays loss to Washington ... Augustin and Jennings each finished with 12 points. Lee Fogolin Jersey . Mika Zibanejad and Jason Spezza scored in the shootout to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 victory over Nashville on Saturday night. Shawn Horcoff Jersey . The team announced the defensive coordinator will not be offered a contract extension. https://www.cheapoilers.com/. I wondered how NHL coaches would feel about a playoff schedule that allowed them to open a best-of-seven series on the road, which many claim to favour, yet still gave them the precious home-ice edge for a seventh game. Cheap Oilers Jerseys . The White Sox said Wednesday they acquired left-handed pitching prospect Sean Bierman and infielder Ben Kline, who both played at Class A this season. The White Sox dealt Crain to Tampa Bay on July 29. Joakim Nygard Jersey . The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive.TORONTO - Forgive Max Pentecost if his attentions divided this weekend. The Blue Jays second pick in the first round (11th overall) is competing in this weekends NCAA super regional for his school, Kennesaw State, against the Louisville Cardinals. All the while, he could be days or weeks away from signing a multi-million dollar contract to turn professional and enter Torontos organization. Pentecosts Owls were down a game in a best-of-three heading into action on Saturday night. Hes got business to take care of first but with a draft slot value at just under $2.9-million, the potential is there to strike it rich. Still, when you hear him speak in his southern drawl, its a reminder that the 21-year-old, like everyone his age, is in many ways still a kid. "I cant wait to get out there and go play," said Pentecost. "Theres going to be one day where Im going to have to clean out my locker and putter around home just because my parents had to move me out of my apartment while we were coming to the super regionals." Selected in the seventh round of the 2011 draft by the Texas Rangers, Pentecost chose not to sign when the Rangers included a 90-day clause in the contract offer, a shield against a recurring injury he suffered in high school. In Pentecosts sophomore year at Winder-Barrow High School near Atlanta, he suffered a stress fracture of his olecranon, which is the bony point of the elbow. He was prescribed rest and rehabilitation. It didnt work and the injury recurred during his junior year. Another season of rest and rehab didnt work and Pentecost suffered the injury a third time in his senior year. He had surgery, two screws were implanted, and there hasnt been an issue since. "I looked at it as I can go to college, work on a degree and if anything I can show them I can play three or four years without the injury recurring," said Pentecost. "I can play healthy and thankfully I was blessed enough to have a good career and improve my stock." His faith in himself has been rewarded. Pentecost has improved as a hitter in each of his thhree years at Kennesaw State, working a slash line of .dddddddddddd23/.483/.631 this season. "I feel that Im more of a hit for average, Im more of a gap to gap, line drive kind of guy," said Pentecost. "I have power but Im not known as a power hitter. You know, it just kind of happens. I feel like I have pretty decent speed for baserunning, for stealing bags. I usually have a pretty good approach, hit offspeed well."Growing up in Georgia, Pentecost admitted he doesnt know much about the city of Toronto. He joked about his time in the Cape Cod League, the collegiate summer circuit in Massachusetts, where he picked up French-language radio stations beaming out of Quebec. It was his time in "The Cape," as its known, when he hit .346/.424/.538 with seven home runs for the Bourne Braves, that Pentecost feels he made his name. "I think thats the only reason I am where I am today," said Pentecost. "Going up there, nobody really knew who I was or had never even heard of Kennesaw State. So going up there I felt like I was really going to have to prove myself and prove my game just to prove who I am. I made a lot of changes to my game, really played hard, enjoyed it. The overall experience was, I mean, it was just a blast." Pentecost cites Jason Kendall and, more recently, Buster Posey as players hes looked up to. He considers himself a versatile athlete; if the catching thing doesnt work out, he could play a corner infield position or in the outfield. First things first, Pentecosts got a game to win on Saturday night. Hell worry about becoming a millionaire later, although getting the draft out of the way will help him relax. "Its a huge weight off my shoulders," he said. SANTOS UPDATE Sergio Santos will throw a bullpen session in Toronto on Sunday. If all goes well, hell report to Single-A Dunedin on Monday. The plan, Santos says, is to throw an inning each on Tuesday and Thursday. Hes hopeful of being activated off the disabled list late next week and of meeting the team in Baltimore. ' ' '