It certainly was a bitter-sweet night for the Pistons and former shooting guard Rip Hamilton as he made his return to The Palace Wednesday night, this time though as a member of the Chicago Bulls.
In that return Hamilton scored 14 points as he helped Chicago earn the 99-83 blowout of the Pistons.
Hamilton went 5-of-9 from the field and added five assists as he was greeted with a standing ovation during player introductions.
“I had so many great memories here and you can’t ever take that away from me”, Hamilton mentioned to reporters after the game when he was asked to reflect on his nine seasons with the Pistons.
Hamilton and the Pistons and a treacherous final couple of seasons as the organization was trying to rebuild. The final straw of sorts was seen last season when Hamilton had a falling out with then head coach John Kuester who ended up benching the veteran for consecutive games.
Hamilton was waived prior to the beginning of the season.
For the Pistons, they never really could get the offense going from the opening tip-off.
Forward Greg Monroe had 19 points and 13 rebounds for Detroit while guard Rodney Stuckey missed the second half with a groin problem.
The Bulls shot 53 percent while Detroit was only able to manage 41 percent.
Ref: Detroit Free Press, US Presswire (image), Twitter