Feb 23, 2013; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons point guard Will Bynum (12) is ejected from the game after a flagrant foul during the fourth quarter against the Indiana Pacers at The Palace. Pacers win 90-72. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

Yikes. While it may not have necessarily been as brutal or embarrassing as their loss last night, the Pistons’ efforts tonight were every bit as ugly. Detroit managed just 72 points, shot a paltry 33.8 percent from the field and connected on just two of their 14 attempts from beyond the arc. Only two Pistons managed to hit half or more of their field goal attempts and, unsurprisingly, Jose Calderon was the only one to make over 50 percent of his shots.

Indiana’s defense was absolutely stifling, even with Roy Hibbert and David West getting foul trouble early. They jumped on the Pistons early, giving up just nine points in the first quarter and 28 in the first half. Detroit’s tank squad — Kim English, Khris Middleton, Slava Kravtsov and Charlie Villanueva, led by Will Bynum — managed a 12-0 run in the second to give the Pistons their only lead of the game, thanks to Bynum’s penetration and some fantastic defense by the rookies, but the Pacers bounced back and returned the lead to double digits by the end of the half.

This was clearly a frustrating game for the Pistons. Villanueva and David West got physical early in the game, with both players being charged with technical fouls within minutes of each other, and Will Bynum was ejected  for Batum-ing Tyler Hansbrough in the groin. These ugly confrontations were pretty much a spot-on reflection of the game itself. This was borderline unwatchable, with both teams combining for just 67 points in the first half and ending the game with 34 turnovers between them. Danny Granger missed his first eight shots and finished 1-10 in a fairly lackluster return to action.

Honestly, there’s not much the Pistons can do other than move on from this one. Middleton, English, and Kravtsov should probably get a bit more playing time, and more DNP-CD’s for Jonas Jerebko aren’t exactly welcome, but Detroit never had a chance in this one. They were simply outmatched by a red-hot Pacers team two nights in a row. Hopefully this is the low point of the season for Detroit, especially with Andre Drummond’s return looming in the next couple weeks, because this game made a lot of college games look smooth by comparison. Hell of a way to welcome a new writer to the site, that’s for sure.

Returning from a knee injury, Danny Granger will play in an NBA game for the first time in about nine months, according to Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star. Possibly the most interesting thing to watch in this game from the both the Pacers and Pistons standpoint is not only how Granger looks out on the court, but also how he meshes with his teammates and maybe most importantly Paul George.

In prior years Granger acted as the Pacers primary offensive weapon and the results were fairly positive. Last year, for example, with the help of the David West signing and Paul George’s improvement in the first year of Indiana of being relevant since the Jermaine O’neal era, they ranked 8th in offensive efficiency at 103.5 points per 100 possessions. Despite a relatively inefficient year from Granger (41.6% from the field), his ability to space the floor, (which is all the more important in today’s NBA) with his 38.4% three point shooting, opens up room for players like David West and Paul George to operate. David West has done a fantastic job carrying a large bulk of the offense through his offense in the high post during Granger’s absence. Yet probably more important to the Pacers success has been the emergence of Paul George. George hasn’t been efficient as he was while playing with Granger but with his improved handle and passing, his ability to carry a lot of the Pacers perimeter offense has kept the Pacers offense just good enough to help their outstanding defense and translate those two into wins. It’ll be interesting to see how Indianapolis utilizes Granger since there have been reports that he is coming off the bench tonight. If this Granger off the bench idea becomes a normality, he could return to his former offensive role except this time with the 2nd unit. Assuming he finishes games with the starters it’ll be interesting to see if he’s used more as a spot up shooter than anything else.

From a Pistons perspective, this game could be seen as a way to redeem themselves from the absolute thrashing they took yesterday at the hands of the Pistons. Detroit could be able to take advantage of this game if Granger’s comeback seems to mess up the Pacers chemistry in any way. On the other hand, Granger could fit in very well and Indianapolis could feed off the energy of one of their most important players returning. Either way, any game that has a big name player returning has the potential to be a very good and interesting watch.

All stats used in this post are via the NBA.com/stats site.