Kuester, Prince put aside their differences

During several stoppages in play in Saturday's loss, Tayshaun Prince would look over to the Pistons' bench for clarification.

And coach John Kuester would nod his head in affirmation.

So it appears that whatever Prince and Kuester argued about near the end of Friday night's blowout loss to the Pacers was put to rest.

"It was something that just happened during the course of the game, and we had our differences at that time," Prince said after Saturday's loss to the Blazers. "Obviously we were down 20 points at the time and it could all be a part of that.

"You move on from it, and you have more games to play."

Prince and Kuester would not reveal what was the actual issue, but both alluded to the fact that the team's losses and horrible performance against the Pacers might have had something to do with frustrations. Prince said arguments are common.

"Honestly it happens more times than what people think," Prince said. "It's just a situation that happened on the court.

"A lot of times it happens in the locker room, a lot of times it's not as much as it seems."

You can only tell so much from surface interactions, but you only have to go to last year to find an example of a coach-player relationship that deteriorated to the point of no return.

Rip Hamilton barely could hide an open distrust of then-Pistons coach Michael Curry, and Allen Iverson took several public, not-so veiled shots at Curry during the season. You have to figure player relations ultimately played a role in Curry's downfall.

In the meantime, Prince admits he is rusty after missing 32 of the first 43 games, and that may have played a role in a key turnover down the stretch against the Blazers.

Trailing by one point late, Prince tried to hit Hamilton coming off a screen with a defender trailing. He saw the Blazers' LaMarcus Aldridge had his back turned, but he turned around at the moment Prince released the ball.

Aldridge was able to get a hand on the pass, causing the turnover. Prince said he tried to pass it too quickly.

"It's tough, but I'm not going to complain about it, but I know the timing is not there," Prince said. "But, hey, it's something I've never been a part of, but I got to figure it out soon, because the guys depend on me to make the plays down the stretch."

NOTEBOOK: Ben Gordon (right groin) is close to returning, and there's a good chance he could be in the lineup Wednesday against the Grizzlies.