Pistons 90, Thunder 88

Observations from tonight’s game….

* If only the Thunder had a closer like Allen Iverson.

* Kevin Durant was on Iverson to start, which was surprising given the fact Scott Brooks immediately moved Durant to small forward when he took over to prevent him from having to guard guys like Iverson.

After the game I asked Brooks about starting Durant on Iverson and he said it had to do with Iverson having a history of struggling against longer, lankier players. Brooks said he also wanted to use Russell Westbrook on Rodney Stuckey to try and keep Stuckey out of the painted area after seeing Stuckey score 40 points against Chicago on Dec. 23 and 20 the game before that against Atlanta. Those explanations made sense. I think it also could have had something to do with Iverson coming off a groin injury and the Thunder thinking he wouldn’t be 100 percent.

* Rookie guard Kyle Weaver got seven critical first-half minutes and looked solid. He made a sweet no-look pass to Jeff Green for a layup and hit a nice mid-range jumper in rhythm. Then he played six second-half minutes and looked like a rookie, contributing nothing but two turnovers. We could see more of Weaver.

“Kyle came in and gave us good minutes,” Brooks said. “The one thing about Kyle that I love and I love about this league is if you bring it every day in practice and try to get better and work on your game, one of these games you’re going to get an opportunity. And he has done that for two months. So he’s being rewarded for working every day in practice trying to get better.”

* And with that, Damien Wilkins could now see extended minutes on the bench.

* The story of Chris Wilcox’s career was summed up in 22 minutes tonight. He scored six points with seven boards in 11 first-half minutes and had four points with no rebounds in 11 second-half minutes.

* Durant’s hot streak continued. His 26 points tonight bumped his streak of games with 22 points or more up to nine straight. He’s scored at least 22 in 10 of 12 games this month. Thunder officials plan on campaigning for Durant as Player of the Month. He’s now averaging 25.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks in December with three games remaining this month.

* Wonder why Pistons guard Richard Hamilton played just nine minutes in the second half.

* 17 lead changes and 14 ties would have made you think this was a playoff game against two heavyweights.

* The Thunder’s nine second-half turnovers, five in the fourth quarter, really hurt. Taking care of the basketball is just as much a part of closing out games as good defense, quality shots and made free throws.