Oct. 30,2013 NBA Game: Washington Wizards @ Detroit Pistons

THE FACT: The Pistons won their home opener for the first time in five seasons. Detroit failed to make the playoffs those four seasons after qualifying the previous eight years.

THE LEAD: Greg Monroe dominated inside with 24 points and 16 rebounds, lifting the Detroit Pistons to a 113-102 victory over the Washington Wizards in the season opener for both teams on Wednesday at The Palace. Josh Smith, Detroit's major free agent acquisition from Atlanta during the offseason, supplied 19 points, five rebounds and five assists in his Pistons debut. Trevor Ariza's 28 points and 10 rebounds led the Wizards.

QUOTABLE: "It just feels like home. It feels like old times. The energy in the building sounded familiar. I hadn't seen that in awhile around here. It felt really good. We fed off of that."

-- Pistons guard Chauncey Billups, who had 16 points and five assists after re-signing with Detroit in the offseason

THE STAT: 28 -- The Pistons doubled the Wizards' output in points in the paint, outscoring them 56-28. The 28-point advantage was largely due to the trio of Monroe, Smith and Andre Drummond (12 points, eight rebounds). Washington started Nene at center, though he prefers to play power forward, while recently-acquired center Marcin Gortat played just 17 minutes, in part because of foul trouble.

TURNING POINT: The Wizards crept within seven, 94-87, midway through the fourth before Billups landed the clinching blows. He made back-to-back 3-pointers to extend Detroit's advantage to 13 and Washington never got closer than six the remainder of the game.

QUOTABLE II: "He doesn't have the nickname 'Mr. Big Shot' for anything. He hit some big shots, especially hitting a couple when they were on runs, so he definitely lived up to his name today."

-- Detroit center Greg Monroe on Billups' clutch shooting

HOT: Smith raised a lot of eyebrows by signing with Detroit, where he will play small forward a good portion of the time. But the early returns were promising. He made 8 of 12 baskets, including 3 of 7 on 3-pointers. His five assists were a bonus, as he looked for his teammates as often as he looked for his shot.

NOT: The Wizards needed a strong rebounding performance from their starting inside duo of Nene and Trevor Booker but they got overpowered. They only combined for three defensive rebounds (eight overall).

ROOKIE WATCH: Detroit's first-round selection, guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, had an up-and-down debut. He missed eight of his 12 shot attempts and committed two offensive fouls but he finished with nine points, two assists and two steals in 27 minutes.

NOTABLE: The Pistons played without starting point guard Brandon Jennings (hairline fracture of mandible) or Rodney Stuckey (fractured thumb). The Wizards did not have forward and top pick Otto Porter (right hip flexor), who missed all of training camp. ... The Pistons shot 50 percent and held a 44-38 rebounding advantage. ... Washington is 21-32 all-time in season openers and 10-24 on the road. ... The Pistons swept the four-game season series a year ago. ... Gortat had nine points and nine rebounds in his Wizards debut after being acquired from Phoenix last week.