Pistons End Regular Season with OT Loss to Heat

This game, the last of the regular season, felt about as meaningful as the last game of the pre-season.  With both teams having clinched their playoff spot and seed, nearly every starter sat tonight to rest for the playoffs, which will start either Saturday or Sunday (schedules will be released sometime around 2 AM EST tonight).  

Tayshaun Prince started and played 9 minutes to run his consecutive games streak to 494, which spans over six seasons.  Every Pistons fan was probably surprised to see Rasheed Wallace starting after it was originally announced he would be amongst the starters not going to see action tonight.  Instead, he played nine minutes and knocked down the only shot he took, a three pointer. 

Unfortunately, the Pistons couldn't capture whatever little momentum this game would have provided for the playoffs as Chris Quinn, a  third-year guy out of Notre Dame, had a career game for the Miami Heat.  He shot 9-13 and scored 26 points carrying his team late in the game en route to their 102-96 OT win.

Six Pistons scored in double-figures including double doubles from Kwame Brown (17 pts, 13 reb) and Jason Maxiell (16 pts, 10 reb).  The Piston player I was most excited about seeing play added minutes, Walter Herrmann struggled (4-13), but finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds in 37 minutes.  The last time Herrmann saw minutes like that was when he was a rookie and averaged just under 20 PPG in 38 minutes per game during the month of April.  Lastly, it was not good to see Will Bynum have another down game, despite the fact he finished with 16 points.

The Pistons will have to deal with a three-game losing streak heading into their series with the Cavaliers and hope they can flip the swagger switch again. 

One positive the Pistons can take from tonight doesn't even come from their own game.  If they look at the NBA scoreboard, they'll notice that the Cavs lost their second home game of the season tonight.  I realize they weren't playing any starters and some of their bench guys went off while Philadelphia was playing their regular lineup.  I'm probably grasping at straws here, but let's hope that one-game home losing streak carries over to the playoffs.  Maybe, just maybe, the Pistons can add to that total this weekend.  In the meantime, let's get ready for the ball, Cinderella.