I’d like to stick up for Piston PG Brandon Jennings. In OT, trailing, Jennings was stripped (aka mugged) on one end then whistle whipped on the other for stealing the ball back. This play was pivotal to the Pelican win 110-106.

*I actually forgot the pivotal bad call: the lane violation! C’mon refs, it’s the NBA! Where traveling happens! Where one foot inbounds happen! Where lane violations happen. C’mon. You’re gonna call it then? At the most important part of the whole game?

Detroit stormed back in the 4th quarter to force the extra period. Rodney Stuckey put in 20 off the bench but missed overtime with a thumb injury. Jennings poured in 25 to go with six steals. Kyle Singler blocked three shots in 29 minutes. Greg Monroe was born in Harvey, LA, and scored 28 points (13-22) and grabbed 10 rebounds in his homecoming.

The play of the night goes to Monroe. In an interview with a girl who has leukemia, we all learned what a man Monroe really is. Her dad described Monroe, 23, as “his new favorite person” for the time he took with his daughter. The way the dad talked about Monroe impressed upon me that our Piston was really genuine. He said Greg asked a lot about St. Jude’s and got contact information so he could do more himself. Greg brought his mom and sister along, too. The girl was rocking a “Motor City” Monroe, and she said he came with jerseys for the girl and her sisters, plus more Pistons stuff.

Just a great story.