Auburn Hills, MI (SportsNetwork. Cheap Indiana Pacers Jerseys .com) - Greg Monroe racked up 23 points and 18 rebounds and the Detroit Pistons held off the New York Knicks down the stretch for a 98-95 victory, their first of the Stan Van Gundy era. Monroes monster performance and a 20-point effort out of Kentavious Caldwell- Pope got Detroit in the win column after opening Van Gundys first season as head coach with three straight losses. We made it a little tougher than it had to be, but definitely happy to get the win, Monroe said. The Pistons dominated the glass, outrebounding the Knicks by a 55-43 margin and recording 19 second-chance points, and went 11-of-23 from 3-point range in addition to playing lockdown defense on Carmelo Anthony for much of the night. Andre Drummond added 13 rebounds and Josh Smith had 10. Smith finished a rough 2-of-17 from the field but shined on the other end, leading an effort that held Anthony without a basket in the first half and a 5-of-21 shooting performance for the game. I thought early on he was trying to do the right thing and not look to attack too early, make sure everybody was involved and I think that made it a little harder for him to find his rhythm, Knicks head coach Derek Fisher said about Anthony. Anthony got on track late to end with 13 points, and New York cut a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit down to two before ultimately being dealt a second loss in as many nights. Tim Hardaway Jr. paced the Knicks with 20 points while filling the sixth-man role of J.R. Smith, suspended for the game for striking Washingtons Glen Rice Jr. in the groin on Tuesday. Jason Smith contributed 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting for New York, which received 15 points each from Iman Shumpert and Amare Stoudemire. The Pistons built a 49-37 lead at halftime behind their prowess on the boards and Anthonys struggles, then extended the margin to as high as 18 points in the third quarter after Jonas Jerebko buried a triple following a Monroe tip- in to make the score 72-54 with under two minutes left in the period. Detroit remained on cruise control for much of the fourth quarter, owning an 89-74 advantage with less than five minutes left before the Knicks came storming back. Stoudemire scored the first seven points of a 12-2 run capped by Hardaways layup off a turnover that trimmed the lead to 91-86 with 2:08 to go. It was a 97-94 game when Hardaway drained a long three with 7.3 seconds to play, and Caldwell-Pope missed twice from the line on the ensuing possession to give New York a chance at a tie. Shumpert was fouled before getting off a shot, however, and made just 1-of-2 from the stripe to bring the Knicks within two. His desperation 3-point try from well beyond half-court was well off the mark at the buzzer, and came after Brandon Jennings hit 1-of-2 foul shots for the final score. An 8-0 run spurred by the bench enabled the Pistons to gain separation early in the second quarter. D.J. Augustin began the surge with five straight points and Jerebko capped it with a long-range triple to put Detroit up 35-24 four minutes into the period. The Pistons were up by as many as 15 in the first half and maintained a double-digit cushion for the majority of the second quarter. Anthonys first basket after nine straight misses, which came just over three minutes into the second half, brought the Knicks within 53-44. However, Detroit countered with a 9-2 flurry that featured one of Caldwell-Popes four makes from long distance and ended on Drummonds putback dunk, which gave the Pistons a commanding 62-46 lead nearing the midway mark of the third quarter. Game Notes Monroe had 18 points and 11 rebounds in his season debut Saturday against Brooklyn, having served a two-game suspension for a DUI arrest to begin the campaign ... Knicks guard Pablo Prigioni did not return after spraining his right ankle early in the second quarter ... The Pistons entered the game last in the NBA in 3-point percentage (21.9 percent) ... Hardaways father, Tim Sr., currently serves as a Pistons assistant under Van Gundy ... Anthony was coming off an 8-of-23 shooting effort in Tuesdays loss to Washington ... Augustin and Jennings each finished with 12 points. Cheap Pacers Jerseys Authentic . When New Zealand finally held on for an 8-7 win, France No. 8 Imanol Harinordoquy collapsed to the ground, having given every drop of energy he could muster, and lay prone as All Blacks danced around him in celebration. Few critics had given France any chance, but coach Marc Lievremonts team rallied from 8-0 down and came within one kick of taking the lead with 15 minutes remaining, only for flyhalf Francois Trinh-Ducs 49-meter effort to drift wide. Cheap NBA Jerseys . Gomes drove in all three runs, including a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning, and Cleveland rallied for a 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. http://www.cheappacersjerseys.com/ . Hicham Khalouas late goal improved Almerias chances of avoiding relegation in a match dominated by contentious calls, including three penalties. One day after Barcelonas 4-3 win at Real Madrid featured three penalties, referees again dominated a wide-open game that saw Almeria ultimately move out of the relegation zone and one point ahead of Getafe which took its place.NEW YORK, N.Y. - Jason Kidd never appears worries about anything, certainly not about someone like Paul Pierce. Even if Pierces matchup was completely one-sided in Torontos favour in Game 2. Pierce nearly had as many fouls as points. He couldnt get his shot to fall, couldnt keep his man off the boards, and the Raptors targeted the Pierce matchup as one they could exploit. Yet Kidd is not concerned as his Brooklyn Nets prepare to host the Raptors in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series Friday night. "Pauls doing every right. The game of basketball is about making shots and sometimes you make them and sometimes you dont. So Paul, I think, has had two good games," Kidd said Wednesday on a conference call. Pierce was sharp down the stretch in helping the Nets win the opener, but couldnt get it going Tuesday night in Torontos 100-95 victory. He shot 2 for 11 and finished with seven points and six rebounds. Worse for the Nets, the Raptors took of advantage of their size against a Nets team that plays Pierce as an undersized power forward. Toronto outrebounded Brooklyn 52-30, with power forwards Amir Johnson and Patrick Patterson combining for 28 points and 18 rebounds while making 13 of 19 shots. Johnson said after the game that with Pierce playing the 4 spot, Raptors coach Dwane Casey told him to go to the glass every time on offence and defence. "We understand were a more athletic team than them. For us to get to the glass every single opportunity we have that presents itself is what we need to do," Patterson said Wednesday. "There shouldnt be a game in this series where we get outrebounded by them." The Nets went to the small-ball lineup after centre Brook Lopez was lost for the season with a broken foot in December, and it helped them turn around their season. With Pierces outside shooting ability, it creates a matchup problem for bigger defenders, who usually prefer to play closer to the basket. Buut it creates a different set of problems for the Nets against aggressive bigs like Torontos, who quickly put Pierce into foul trouble that prevented him from ever getting into a rhythm Tuesday. Cheap Pacers Jerseys China. Yet if he made either of the two 3-point attempts that bounced out in the final 25 seconds, the Nets might have come home with a 2-0 lead, and Kidd preferred to focus on that. "No matter what he shot in the last game, he had great looks and they just went in and out, and so theres nothing in the sense of changing what Pauls going to do," Kidd said of Pierce, the 2008 NBA Finals MVP. "Hes a very smart player, he understands time and situation and ... theres no concern." Pierce said after the game the Nets were soft when it came to their rebounding, and teammates agreed they had to do a better job as a team of helping out on the boards. But that was far from Brooklyns only problem in Game 2. All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan bounced back from his shaky opener with 30 points and carried Toronto down the stretch, while centre Jonas Valanciunas came up with 15 points and 14 rebounds. It gave the impression that the younger Raptors, who won the Atlantic Division, might have too many answers for the Nets. "Toronto is going to win this series," TNT analyst Charles Barkley said afterward. "I have not seen anything these first two games that makes me see anything different." The Raptors will still need to win at least one in Brooklyn. They are a good road team, with a 22-19 record that matched Miami and Washington for best in the East. "Its a new beginning, a new frontier, a new experience," coach Dwane Casey said of going on the road now. "The only way youre going to get it is to go through it. I have faith in our guys and confidence in our guys that were going to go in there as a group bonded together and fight together." AP freelance writer Ian Harrison in Toronto contributed to this report. Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys Cheap Braves Jerseys Cheap Orioles Jerseys Cheap Red Sox Jerseys Cheap Cubs Jerseys Cheap White Sox Jerseys Cheap Reds Jerseys Cheap Indians Jerseys Cheap Rockies Jerseys Cheap Tigers Jerseys Cheap Astros Jerseys Cheap Royals Jerseys Cheap Angels Jerseys Cheap Dodgers Jerseys Cheap Marlins Jerseys ' ' '