is reach." Thats especially important to a Canadian te

INDIANAPOLIS -- Detroit beat Indiana at its own game Monday night. The Pistons were tougher inside, tougher on defence and tougher at fending off challenges. On a night the Eastern Conferences best team looked like anything but, Josh Smith scored 30 points and Greg Monroe had 13 points and 12 rebounds to help Detroit send Indiana to a 101-96 loss -- the Pacers first at home this season. "Its impressive the way we came in and competed with the way the Pacers have been playing," Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks said. "We have a good basketball team." Detroit (12-14) proved it with a nearly perfect game. The Pistons dominated on the glass with a 55-40 overall advantage and a 20-9 edge on offensive rebounds. They matched the Pacers shooting percentage of 43.2 per cent, had one more 3-pointer and nearly an identical shooting percentage on 3s (35.3 to 35.0), outscored Indiana 44-38 in the paint and 22-14 on second-chance points. For a Pacers team that prides itself on defence and rebounding, it wasnt even close to their best. Detroit also finished with nearly as many blocks (seven) as turnovers (eight) and made five of six free throws during the final minute to hold off Indianas last charge. The most surprising element was that Indiana never tied the score in the second half and never took the lead on its home floor, where it had gone 11-0 before Monday night. The loss leaves the Pacers (20-4) with the second-best record in the league, percentage points behind Portland (21-4). The Pistons knew that to end their six-game losing streak in this series and their nine-game losing streak at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, they needed to execute the game plan flawlessly. They did. "Were forming an identity ourselves," said Smith, who went 13 of 29 from the field after meeting with Cheeks about getting more opportunities. "That has to be being a physical team, try to dominate the paint." Indianas uncharacteristic certainly helped the cause. Paul George was 4 of 14 from the field, finishing with 17 points, nine rebounds and four turnovers. Roy Hibbert had six points and four rebounds. Even the energetic Lance Stephenson couldnt get his flustered teammates righted. Stephenson scored a career best 23 points and Luis Scola added a season high 18 points. What went wrong for the usually unflappable Pacers? George said the offensive rebounds got Indiana out of sync. Others wondered if the Pacers may have been looking past Detroit, which has won just two of their last six games, and ahead to Wednesday nights rematch with Miami. Indiana beat the two-time defending NBA champs on their home court 90-84 last week and have made no secret that theyre out to get the Eastern Conferences No. 1 seed. Indiana coach Frank Vogel quickly discounted that notion, calling Detroit a good team. "I dont think we were looking ahead at all," Vogel said. "Weve got to lick our wounds and see what we need to do better." Whatever the explanation, these Pacers didnt even resemble the team that set one franchise record with its perfect 9-0 start and another by opening the season 11-0 at home. Oklahoma City is the last unbeaten team at home this season. Detroit took charge quickly, using a 10-3 first quarter to take a 23-14 lead -- a lead it never relinquished. Even in the second half, when the Pacers typically dominate, the Pistons refused. Detroit scored the last eight points of the first half, turning a 49-49 tie into a 57-49 lead. Then Smith scored Detroits first eight points in the second half, and the surging Pistons took advantage of Indianas growing frustration by extending the lead to 72-61 on Brandon Jennings layup with 5:20 left in the third quarter. Jennings finished with 18 points and eight assists. Indiana rallied again, getting within 79-73 after three, but the Pistons answered with a 7-2 spurt that made it 89-79 with 7:01 to go. Scolas layup with 4:55 remaining ended an 8-0 run that got the Pacers as close as 89-87, but the Pistons ran off five straight points. Stephenson gave it one final push, hitting a 3 with 1:17 to go to cut Detroits lead to 96-94, but the Pistons closed it out at the free-throw line. "We had a lot of confidence coming in here tonight. We played Portland (Sunday) night in a game we should have won," Jennings said. "Tonight we knew were playing the best team in the Eastern Conference and we were able to give them their first home loss." NOTES: Indiana is the NBAs only team that has not been in a game decided by fewer than five points. ... Guard Chauncey Billups was inactive for the Pistons. ... Vogel said swingman Danny Granger is on track to return to the lineup Friday night against Houston. He has not played this season because of a strained left calf. ... Indiana fell to 10-3 when trailing at halftime. china nfl jerseys . Top-seeded Djokovic swept to a 6-1, 6-3 win over 51st-ranked Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in just 57 minutes, but fourth-seeded Federer had to see off a serious challenge from 48th-ranked Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic before coming through 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3. discount nfl jerseys . Joining him in this years class were Switzerlands Patrick Huerlimann and Norways Eigil Ramsfjell. The announcement was made at the world mens curling championship at Capital Indoor Stadium in China. http://www.cheapchinanfljerseyswholesale.com/ . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. cheap nba jerseys china . You can watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 3pm et/Noon pt. The Thunder reclaimed the home-court advantage LA took with a Game 1 win on Friday night with a 118-112 road win in Game 3. cheap nba jerseys . Nikolaos Kounenakis has been hired as an assistant coach, the team announced on Monday.MINSK, Belarus -- In winning its group at the world hockey championship, Team Canada beat goaltenders Jan Laco, Jakub Kovar, Patrick Galbraith, Daniel Bellissimo, Anders Nilsson and Steffen Soberg. None of them are Finlands Pekka Rinne, who stands as Canadas biggest challenge in Thursdays quarter-final round. Even while a young Finnish team has struggled with penalties, turnovers and a lack of offensive depth, Rinne has been a rock with a 1.65 goals-against average, .929 save percentage and two shutouts. "Pekka is our most important player -- absolutely," coach Erkka Westerlund said Wednesday. "We built our whole system so that goalkeeping is No. 1, and then we try to build the strength (of) defence in front of him. Thats how it is, (how) hockey works." Westerlund said he was not yet satisfied with his teams defensive play but expects improvement. Even if that doesnt happen, Finland has a good chance in Canada if for no other reason than Rinne. Fortunately for the Finns, Rinne is not experiencing any injury problems after missing four months of the Nashville Predators season with a hip infection. Naturally, it took a while for him to get back to feeling right. "Its a process, and I think even when I came here (to Minsk) I thought that hopefully I can improve all the time and I didnt maybe feel 100 per cent," Rinne said. "But now I do, and Im really happy and I feel like my game has been getting better and (Im) just feeling more comfortable." Rinne is playing with confidence and instilling it in his teammates, only six of whom are back from the Sochi Olympics, where Finland won a bronze medal. Tuukka Rask and Kari Lehtonen were the goalies then, but as former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Leo Komarov pointed out, the best thing about his country is knowing there will always be great goaltending. Still, this isnt the Olympics. "Its a different roster, its a different tournament," said Komarov, who repeated his desire to return to the NHL last season. "Its a new day, a new life." But the same, old, reeliable Rinne.dddddddddddd Canadian defenceman Ryan Ellis knows all about that from parts of three seasons as a Predators teammate of Rinnes. Unlike a lot of other goaltenders, Ellis said Rinne doesnt let game action detract from his practices. "Every day, every practice its like a game," Ellis said. "He tries so hard in net in practice. I remember by first couple years there, I dont think I scored him in the first 10 or 15 practices. And then every time I did, I was pretty impressed with myself, pretty happy." Ellis said Canada was less concerned with how they were going to score on Rinne and more worried about his puck-handling thwarting attack time. "Hes active back there with the puck, so I think the biggest thing that were focused on is keeping the pucks away from him on dumps and stuff," Ellis said. "He gets out to play them a lot. Getting them in the glass and try to get them out of his reach." Thats especially important to a Canadian team that tries to play a hard, North American style on the bigger, international ice surface. Canada has succeeded at holding on to the puck to create chances and through seven games has averaged 34 shots a game. The strategy against Rinne is the same as many other elite goaltenders. "Were going to have to get pucks and traffic to the net," Ellis said. "Its tough for goalies when they get that kind of presence in front of him. Weve got some big guys, so hopefully we can get those guys going." Whether that happens or Rinne keeps rolling will go a long way to determining whether Canada has a date with the United States or Czech Republic in Saturdays semifinals. Westerlund said the Finns "dont have pressure (because) we are underdogs." Thats true. But Rinne still displays big-game confidence. "Im feeling good and Ive been enjoying hockey," Rinne said. "I think thats the biggest thing, when youre just having fun and just letting it go. Just dont think about anything, just play, and I feel like Ive been doing that." ' ' '