FAST BREAKDOWN
Three quick observations from Wednesday night’s 98-94 win over the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center
BLUEPRINT WIN – That was a big chunk of Dwane Casey’s recipe for winning: take care of the basketball, don’t foul, don’t give up 3-point shots. If their best shooters had shot it a little better, they’d have won going away. Instead they needed Reggie Bullock’s alert play to bat a loose ball ahead and dunk with 14.5 seconds left to stretch a three-point lead to five. The Pistons committed only nine turnovers, limited New Orleans to nine free-throw attempts and held them to 22 3-point shots, nine of them in the fourth quarter, to win their first game in New Orleans in their last 10 tries.