The last 20-20 game

Before Antonio McDyess had 21 points and 22 rebound against the Knicks on Wednesday, the Pistons hadn’t had a 20-20 game in 11 seasons.

Bison Dele had 26 points and 20 rebounds in a loss to the SuperSonics on Dec. 5, 1997. But his effort didn’t seem to have a huge impact on the game, judging by Seattle forward Detlef Schrempf’s postgame comments to The Seattle Times.

“We played well today,” Schrempf said. “We played aggressive. 

We controlled the boards, and we played good defense. We showed good offense for most of the game. We had some great stops on defense and finished it with rebounding. That’s what we didn’t do the last game, so it’s definitely better than last game.

Besides the 20-20 performance and the Pistons losing, both games had a few other similarities.

The Pistons’ small forward was excellent. Tayshaun Prince had 25 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three blocks Wednesday. Grant Hill had 27 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, two steals and two blocks against Seattle.

Detroit’s opponent had a 30-point scorer. Nate Robinson scored 30 for the Knicks, and Vin Baker had 31 for Seattle.

The Pistons’ bench was torched by the opponent’s. New York’s outscored Detroit’s, 49-12. And the SuperSonics won the reserve battle, 26-3.

Box score

The aftermath

The Pistons fell to 7-12 with the loss to Seattle and finished 37-45.

The SuperSonics went to 15-4 and finished 61-21. They eventually lost to the Lakers in the second round.

Bison Dele died in 2002 during a mysterious boat trip with his brother and girlfriend.

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