Stackhouse Makes His (57) Points

Jerry Stackhouse put up Jordan-esque numbers in the United Center on Tuesday night.

Stackhouse scored an NBA season-high 57 points as the Detroit Pistons won their third in a row, 110-83, over the Chicago Bulls.

Stackhouse set a United Center single-game scoring record, surpassing the 53-point performance by Michael Jordan in March 1996.

“It feels great to be in that kind of company as a scorer,” said Stackhouse, whose previous career high was 46, set against the Lakers on March 15. “It’s the most points I’ve scored in my whole life.”

Stackhouse was 21 of 36 from the field and 11 of 13 from the line in breaking Kelly Tripucka’s team record of 56 points, set in 1984 against the Bulls. Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson scored 54 earlier this season.

“The best part of the night was how the guys tried to get me the ball,” Stackhouse said. “Once they knew about the [team] record, they just kept getting the ball to me.”

Stackhouse’s career-best is the highest single-game performance in the NBA since the Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neal had 61 against the Clippers on March 6, 2000.

A perceived insult was all it took to get Stackhouse going.

“Ron Artest told me at the beginning of the game that [Bull] Coach [Tim] Floyd said he didn’t respect my game and he wasn’t going to double-team me,” Stackhouse said. “Maybe next time.”