For one night Elton Brand enjoyed a reprieve.
For one night Brand left behind all the losses in rebuilding and tasted what it's like to be a champion.
Of course he had to go to Minneapolis on Monday night and watch his college team to do it. Reality returned quickly, not to mention embarrassingly.
Brand's experience watching Duke's national championship victory over Arizona contrasted sharply with what he experienced 24 hours later at the United Center.
That's when an announced sellout crowd of 21,749 spent the entire fourth quarter cheering for Detroit guard Jerry Stackhouse to top 50 points en route to a record-breaking 57 points in a 110-83 Pistons blowout.
When Stackhouse stylishly cracked 50 on a breakaway reverse dunk with 2 minutes 41 seconds remaining, those who remained in the stands cheered loudly. Then the action deteriorated into a playground game with Pistons passing up open shots--some of them on breakaways--to set up Stackhouse. Fans booed A.J. Guyton as he dribbled out the clock, depriving Stackhouse of one more shot.
Stackhouse still did plenty of damage, finishing with an NBA-season-high and Pistons franchise-record 57. He also eclipsed Michael Jordan's United Center record of 53 points, set against Detroit on March 7, 1996, and tied a building record with 21 field goals.
"Guys wanted the record more than I did," Stackhouse said. "They made the extra effort and that typifies what this team is about."
That effort dominated coach Tim Floyd's postgame comments--or, more accurately, the lack thereof. Floyd angrily ripped his team, rendering only Brand and Fred Hoiberg immune.
"It was a pathetic effort," Floyd said. "Our fans deserved better than that."
Those fans gave Stackhouse a standing ovation as he exited with 6.9 seconds remaining.
"If our fans were enjoying it based on everything else they saw from our club that they paid to come watch, then so be it," Floyd said. "I do have a problem, not from their end, but from our end with that guy going to the rim every time he wanted to go to the rim. I had a heckuva problem with that."
Floyd might have even a bigger problem with Ron Artest's assessment of Stackhouse's game.
"It was cool watching it from the bench," said Artest, one of the many defenders Stackhouse victimized.
The Bulls have lost 13 of their last 14 and were swept in a season series by the Pistons for just the fourth time in franchise history. Their average margin of defeat was 19.8 points.
Here's all you need to know: After one quarter the scoreboard read Stackhouse 24, Bulls 20.
The first-quarter performance tied Dominique Wilkins' mark set Jan. 29, 1988, for most points in one quarter against the Bulls. It also broke Scottie Pippen's 1997 record of 21 for most points scored in one quarter at the United Center and tied Isiah Thomas' and Joe Dumars' Pistons franchise mark for most points in a quarter.
Stackhouse's night marked the eighth time he has topped 40 points this season. His previous high was 46.
Jamal Crawford tied his career high with 17 points to lead the Bulls, who played without Ron Mercer. The guard sat with tendinitis in his right ankle.
STACKING UP RECORDS
Jerry Stackhouse's 57-point performance Tuesday night set several records:
- Pistons' single-game scoring mark: Old mark, 56, Kelly Tripucka, 1-29-83 vs. Bulls.
- United Center scoring mark: Old mark, 53, Michael Jordan, 3-27-96 vs. Detroit.
- United Center field goals made mark: 21, tied Jordan vs. Detroit, 3-27-96.
- Pistons' one-quarter scoring mark: 24 in the first quarter tied Isiah Thomas (three times) and Joe Dumars (once). He outscored the Bulls 24-20 in the first.
