[Matt and Ian will be posting quarter-by-quarter recaps for tonight’s game, and we invite all of you to leave your in-game comments here, as well. ]
- Pre-Game
Ian:
Well, the matchup that everyone expected is upon us: Kazaam, D Wade, Mouthpiece, Damon Jones’ deputy in Hell, et al, are all at the Palace to take on our beloved Boys in Blue.
Now tip the damn ball already.
What we’ve learned from ESPN’s pregame moments:
1. Stephen A. Smith enjoys yelling, and his cohosts seem confused by it. Shut…up…
2. Dwayne Wade wanted this rematch all year — be careful what you wish for.
3. I hope someone other than my fiancee and me noticed Sheed and Carlos (F’n) Delfino horsing around in the background while Mike and Hubie were previewing the game. Also of note, Hubie looks to have completed his transformation into Skeletor.
- 1st Quarter
1. I understand that 20-8 leads are nothing to applaud, but what the hell happened to the Palace faithful. Have the blue-collar fans sold out to the blue-bloods for the playoffs? Are the Palace crowds going by way of the University of Michigan football crowds? Que Pasa?
2. Thus far in this game, Ben looks to be the only one that has come to play his game. He has a couple defensive stops on Shaq, and he got the Pistons on the board with an alley-oop. If Ben can force Shaq to play him honest on the offensive end, the dribble penetration should yield some paint points for Rip, Tay, and Sheed (if he ever shows up, that is).
3. The abuse of Gary Payton has begun. As a follow-up to his domination of the Glove in the 2004 finals, Chauncey promptly takes it to GP at the 3-minute mark of the second quarter, drawing the foul and cutting the lead to 8 with the freebies.
4. Folks, the Heat just threw their best punch. There’s no way in hell they shoot 75+% the remainder of the way, and the Pistons should gradually improve upon their 35% clip. Blue has hung around, steadily playing their game and avoiding foul trouble, and despite the defensive lapses, signs thus far are pretty good. Consider this: Wade with two fouls in the first quarter; 25 points by a “tired” Detroit team in the quarter; plenty of points in the paint and at the line for the normally perimeter-obsessed Pistons. If anything, it is Miami (Shaq excluded) that has fallen in love with the perimeter shot.
I now leave you in the capable hands of Matt for the second quarter. I’ll see you after halftime.
- 2nd Quarter
Matt:
1. Mo Evans just got the fast break after entering the game at the end of the first — nice to see Flip Saunders decided to use the bench early to combat the Heat’s rest advantage. He’s joined on the court by fellow reserves Antonio McDyess and Lindsey Hunter.
2. The bench is making things happen — McDyess hits a jumper forced a turnover, which results in a Hunter layup.
3. Free-throw woes? What free-throw woes? The Pistons open the game 13-13 from the charity stripe. That’s incredible to see after the last series — and it’s the only reason the Pistons are now down two after being down 12 early.
4. Hunter gets tagged with the defensive foul on a Wade push-off, but he’s not scared — just seconds after the resulting in-bound pass, he draws a charge from Wade, who heads to the bench with his third foul. Awesome job by Hunter, who probably neutralized the Heat’s best offensive weapon for the rest of the half. That’s the benefit of having one of the best on-the-ball defenders coming off the bench — he can afford to be as aggressive as he wants to be knowing that he’s only going to be needed for limited minutes.
Ian mentioned this to me and I have to agree: it’s nice to see that Flip has realized Hunter is most effective when paired up with Billups. For one, it’s far less likely that Hunter follows a stellar defensive play with a dumb shot on offense.
5. Do Mike and Hubie really need to remind everyone how far Chauncey Billups has come? How many other NBA Finals MVPs need to be introduced?
6. Seems like Detroit just can’t get over the hump — Chauncey just missed a three which would have tied it at 41-41. Instead, Payton scores on the other end, putting Miami up by five. And now Rip commits the charge. The good news is that Rip’s foul was just the second turnover by Detroit so far. Turnovers and free throws were Detroit’s Achilles’ heel against Cleveland, but they’ve certainly addressed those concerns so far — they just need to follow a couple of stops with a shot to get this thing tied.
7. I want to buy a Honda Element. “Yes, I pinch.”
Alright, a couple of thoughts before I throw it back to Ian. I really like how Flip is using his bench, even if it’s just for a few seconds at the end of each quarter. No need to risk a foul (or injury) to a starter in those situations on defense, especially when it’s a guy like Dale Davis that only needs to lean on his man to keep him honest.
But here’s a big question: what’s up with Rasheed Wallace? He played just 13 minutes in the first half, and his next point will be his first. Is it just foul trouble (he has two), or is the ankle acting up? The fact that Detroit “weathered the storm” without getting anything out of Rasheed and still enters halftime down just four is quite remarkable.
Alright, back to Ian for the third — I’ll be back in the fourth.
-
Halftime
Ian:
You almost get the sense that ESPN is experiencing a Lebron hangover. Everything about this halftime seems a bit less hyped. Man, if you’re Dwyane Wade, you must feel like last year’s prom queen. Lebron’s second round playoff loss is a bigger story than his conference finals matchup against the Pistons. This after Wade was annointed the hero during last year’s playoffs.
-
3rd Quarter
1. Flip admits at halftime that the Pistons are “emotionally tired.” Okay…
2. The Pistons cannot buy a bucket to start the third quarter, and the Heat are hitting everything. Sound familiar? If this keeps up, I’m going to have Matt jump in here since they seem to respond when he’s on watch.
3. Shaq cannot challenge anything down low with his three fouls, as evidenced by his laying off Billups on the layup drive. The Pistons would be wise to exploit that void in the center. Just as I type this, Ben steals the O-board and slams it home. (Genious.)
4. Just got an IM from Matt coinciding with Sheed’s first bucket of the game (a three). It said simply “’bout f*cking time.” Yup, that about says it all. Meanwhile, Shaq is elbowing people; Tay Tay is hitting threes; Dwyane Wade is relying too much on the dribble drive (because he can’t shoot straight) and draws his fourth foul; and the Pistons are working their way into the lead. Good times. Timeout bitches.
5. I like Haslem shooting jump shots like I like Butter Pecan ice cream. Always.
6. Sheed giveth, and Sheed taketh away. But Skeletor makes a good point, you have to keep feeding Sheed down low, if only to get him hot in time to effect the outcome in the fourth. Remember, Sheed is the best free-throw shooting big man in white tonight. At this rate, that should be important later.
7. 8 straight points from the Heat, and the bad guys go back up by 3. Flip’s in a bit of a quandry right now. Lindsey would be an asset at limiting the perimeter chances for the Heat, if only because he could slow the pace that the ball is getting upcourt. But Lindsey is at his best when on the floor with Chauncey, and do you really want to steal starter minutes from Rip and give them to Lindsey? Think about that.
8. Ben is a monster on the boards. He is ripping them from everyone right now: Shaq, Mourning, Haslem. Everyone. Meanwhile, Rip Hamilton is wilting under the physical pressure being applied by the Heat. His game is catch and shoot, not catch, get hammered with no foul call, and shoot. If they aren’t going to call the foul, he’s got to defer.
Well, the Boys in Blue are back down five after such a promising start to the quarter. I’m going to pass the baton to Matt to close this one out; let’s hope he can pull out the W. Let’s pick it up, Blue.
-
4th Quarter
Matt:
1. Thank you Posey — if there’s one thing that will get the Pistons back on top, it’s missed three-point attempts by the Heat.
2. Go to hell, Payton. Made three-pointers by Miami do the Pistons no good. Detroit trails 69-61.
3. Another three try (miss by Walker) from Miami — I think Pat Riley is trying his best to bury Detroit with a barrage of threes right now. Either that, or he has some undisciplined players on the court. Considering Detroit is only down four, I’m surprised Miami is settling for such low-percentage shots. Count on Wade to even things out by driving to the hoop every time he touches the ball.
4. Anyone else notice how much the scoring has decreased since the opening quarter? Detroit had 25 in the first, just 30 more two and a half quarters later.
5. Flagrant foul by James Posey on Antonio McDyess , followed by a shot of Pat Riley and Shaq smirking on the sidelines. Smile all you want, fellas, but Dyess hit ‘em both, and drew another foul on the ensuing possession. One more foul on Miami and Detroit is in the bonus. (OK, Detroit failed to score after the in-bounds and Wade just scored on the other end to put Miami up by 10, but the fact Detroit is almost in the bonus will likely be a factor.)
6. Does Wade have a pronounced swagger or is he always limping? I really don’t know. Granted, I’d have a swagger, too, if I just put my team up 13 against the No. 1 seed on the road.
7. Haslem just turned the ball over on his fifth personal (throw the mouthpiece, throw the mouthpiece, throw the mouthpiece…)
8. Sadly, Miami is beating Detroit with an even attack — they have five players in double-digit scoring.
9. Miami, up by nine, goes to the Hack-A-Ben. Unconventional to do that with the lead, but not a bad strategy considering Ben missed them both and is now 0 for his last 13. He’s basically an automatic turnover when put on the line. Detroit in turn hacks Shaq, which prompts Miami to take him out. Ugly basketball. Good thing we were close to the 2:00 minute mark, where away-from-the-ball fouls are rewarded with shots and possession.
10. I don’t know what’s more disappionting: the fact that Wade just blocked Rip’s shot, or that when he took it the other way and was fouled, he landed on some empty courtside seats. People, if you’re paying several hundred dollars to sit that close, at least stay the whole game.
11. If Tracy McGrady can score 13 in 35 seconds, Detroit can score eight in 22, right? Right? Yeah, I’m not betting on it either. Miami up 88-81, the game is all but in the bag.
Game. Wade scored 25 in 27 minutes, making 9-11 from the field and 7-9 from the line. Shaq turned in 14 points and eight boards in 29 minutes. It’s pretty ridiculous that Miami was able to control this game pretty much from start to finish while getting less than 30 minutes from Wade and O’Neal. Miami’s bench just isn’t that good. Oh sure, Walker (17 points) and Payton (14) have some name value, but they can’t be allowed to combine for 31 points. And this is kind of obvious, but Detroit can’t continue to allow Wade to get to the hoop with such ease.
A lot of people are going to say fatigue was a big factor in this game, and they may be right. But if you take out the first quarter, Detroit won this game by three. To me, that looks more like early jitters, because you wouldn’t think fatigue would be a factor in the opening minutes. Remember, Miami jumped out to an 11-0 lead to start the game, and even though Detroit had the lead a couple of times later in the game, they were never able to create any kind of cushion.
The silver lining, though, is that this is supposed to be hard — no one was expecting a sweep. It just hurts that Detroit gave up home court advantage, especially in a game that Miami’s big two were limited by foul trouble. What went right? Detroit turned the ball over six times; Miami, 14. Detroit shot 19-22 from the line; Miami, 14-21.
Like Rip likes to say, “If it’s not rough, it’s not right.” Being down 0-1 is certainly rough; hopefully they can make it right in Game 2.
Let’s go Deeeetroit Basketballlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!!!!
Play like you’re down but not out!!
Go Pistons Go!!!
WTF MAN!!!!
wake uppppppp
I’ve never believed in a team being “rusty.” Rest easily trumps rust. That’s what we’re seeing in this 1st Q.
sweet! the refs are keeping us in!
I don’t see the Heat shooting 75% for the rest of the game. They’re feeling each other out, in the 2nd half is when the real basketball will start.
I wish Detroit would play their real basketball in both halves so I don’t have to sit through this crapola. The foul difference is 7-1, and Wade’s already picked up 2. That is the only good thing to come out of that quarter.
That and we apparently figured out how to shoot free throws.
Sloppy sloppy sloppy….
Sheed needs to “show up”
I hope Tay gets pumped up by that freakin Mourning
Funny exchange between me and the better half:
Me: Look at Tay, standing up to Mourning. Tay’s as big as one of his arms.
Her: I would too if Ben had my back.
So does “emotionally tired” mean couldn’t hit a shot alone in a gym on a 10′ ladder? 4th Q starting with the Heat leading and Wade’s only played 18 minutes so far. Way to take advantage, fellas.
Is it just me or are the Heat better when Wade and Shaq are off the floor? I think it’s that they’re so much better defensively during those times. Sad that the Pistons can’t keep up with their best two out.
Hoping for a solid end to the game. Also wishing, as someone said above, that the Pistons would play for 4 quarters. If anyone remembers the game earlier against the Suns where the Pistons opened a 17-point deficit and came back, that seems to be their style of choice. And it makes me way too nervous.
Boy, they could really use Darko in there to lean on Shaq!
Heat in 5.
Leave Rasheed on the bench.
Rip too.
f*cking embarassing.
Wow, Billups either got fouled or blocked on that 3 and nothing from the refs. I still think the NBA is fixed.
Alonzo Mourning is defending his long-standing title as my least favorite NBA player. The guy is a complete douche.
Rip needs to sit. Honestly, if he isn’t getting the ball in his spot when he’s open, he struggles to create his own shot.
Did the NBA fix Rasheed and Rip so that they’d watch the Heat drive past them every other time down the court?
Williams, Payton and Walker are outscoring everyone.
I know the Pistons are playing poorly. But the fact is, with even officiating, they could play poorly and still beat this team.
Count me in in the Alonzo Mourning haters club
hehe
“even officiating”
Did you miss the first quarter?
It’s amazing how much you can dislike a guy who fought through KIDNEY REPLACEMENT. But yeah, he’s a douche.
Yeah makes me admire the crowd for not yelling kidney-related attacks to that Ahole
SWEET! some more refs stopping miami in their tracks, god I love having a smidgen of hope infused that detroit can still pull it out.
the pistons have ‘been here’ for about a quarter, maybe two, this game, the rest has been terrible! I’m all for them but this is disappointing. I guess its highly worth keeping in mind that they’ve had way less rest than the heat, but I still wonder, its the same style of crap play as with the cavs.
Yeah, growing up in south Florida, my anti-Alonzo sentiments go back quite a ways. He’s always been a me-first player, much like the other Miami loser: Dan Marino. Always willing to throw teammates under the bus rather than play together and win.
Some more bail outs from the refs and we have a ball game!!! haha
Pistons need a new team name.
How about, the Detroit Pussies?
While they’re busy embroidering the new logo on the jerseys, maybe Flip can remind the team how to guard the baseline.
This makes me happy that I’m leaving the country for the next week.
I like how Flip is making the starters stay on the court while the game is out of reach.
Running around like a bunch of bench warmers at clean-up time…embarassing them.
Just 1 game…37% from the field and they had more good looks against the Heat than they did against the Cavs. I don’t want to blame fatigue, but they had a lot of good looks. Next game I see them getting to the basket a lot more because even that was open.
Good game by the Heat though, they needed this confidence boost.
What ever happened to the Rasheed that went out an abused other PF’s whenever there was a hyped game? Anyone else remeber him KILLING Tim Duncan the last time we played the Spurs in the regular season, starting on the inside then working him out. I think he had around 35 effortless points…why the hell cant he do it againsgt Antoine Walker? If these Pistons are just “bored” untill they get into the finals they better realize they dont already have an invitation there
Billups disgusts me. He looks like he doesn’t want to fight anymore. I said Pistons in 6, but Miami wants it more.
That game shouldn’t have even been close with the way the Pistons played. So I guess there’s some consolation in that. They did Piston-like things outside of shooting a horrible percentage: Low turnovers, good job on the boards considering the Heat had about 50 misses to work with, and decent D outside of the 1st quarter. I just have this feeling that Miami wants it more. Is that possible? And I don’t even need to say how vital it is to get game 2. Currently playing .500 ball, boys, and that ain’t gonna get it done.
BTW, is there a bigger collection of NBA All-asshole players still struggling for a championship than in Miami? Antoine Walker? Jason Williams? Alonzo Mourning? Gary Payton? What a collection of douches. You’re going to let these guys walk over you to get a shot at the belt? I don’t know if there’s a least deserving core of vets around.
Just got back from the game. The crowd was pathetic but the Pistons’ lack of effort in the 1st Quarter took out any energy in the building. We got so many favorable calls in the 1st half too that kept us in the game (and hey at least our free-throw shooting was back).
I actually would prefer either Shaq or Wade in the game at all times because the Heat are forced to concentrate on them for offense, and neither of them plays defense. Shaq only had 14 points!!
Basically it was too little, too late, and an almost predictable letdown after the high of the Game 7 win. We better win Game 2.
I like Wade and Shaq in the game as well. Not only do they not play defense, but it seems like the Pistons let up when they went out. They stopped attacking the basket and ignored guys on defense who hit big 3’s. It’s almost as if they had accomplished their plan of attacking and getting the Heat into foul trouble, then didn’t know what to do afterward. I still feel like Flip is awful at adjusting though. The Heat have a huge coaching advantage in this series.
Nothing about tonight’s game bodes well for Detroit. Yes, they shot very poorly and still kept it close. However, don’t expect the Pistons to get another favorably called game such as tonight. Wade was called for three offensive fouls! That will not happen again, and has likely never happened before. They had both Wade and Shaq on the bench in foul trouble with about four minutes left in the first half and then decided to turn off the jets. If you get Wade and Shaq in foul trouble, you must put on the hurt offensively (and play defense against the players still on the floor). Otherwise, you will ensure that both players are well rested for the next game after a win. I would have felt a lot better about a loss in which both Shaq and Wade played extended minutes without foul trouble.
As for fouling Ben while up, as much as I hate to say it, it was a very smart move on Riley’s part. It completely took away the Pistons energy. That was probably the last nail in the coffin. Until Ben starts hitting his free throws, this can be a mental advantage for any team playing the Pistons in a tight game.
Actually, While I was disappointed with the loss, I remain as confident as I was going into tonight that the Pistons are going to put a hurt on the Heat. In a game where they couldn’t buy a basket (we might see some other poor shooting performances, but not like this), the Pistons were never out of it. The score was close and the Pistons were generally finding open shots all night. They also forced Wade into some bad decisions and the Heat spent a good deal of time in the penalty. When the Pistons find their shooting touch, I expect the tenor of the series will change dramatically in Motown’s favor.
Hey!Tired?It’s in Piston!Now I’m wondering if the Heat will lead the game 4-1 or 4-2.Heart broken !!!!!!!!!
Where is their confidence?Sweept away by the Cavaliers?I seem to remember that many people say that the Heat is no more than their last year team.Then how about the Pistons?
拜托！！！！！！！！！！！
“A lot of people are going to say fatigue was a big factor in this game, and they may be right. But if you take out the first quarter, Detroit won this game by three. To me, that looks more like early jitters, because you wouldn’t think fatigue would be a factor in the opening minutes.”
Excuses excuses … stop offering them stop whining and get back to doing what the Pistons are paid to do: PLAY BASKETBALL … not be a bunch of shopping center toddlers whining.
Also start accepting that Detroit now are the hunted. ALL the teams obviously saw what Cleveland did … so … the West will be thinkin the same. WAKE UP and smell the coffee before this is a sweep.
If they let Walker,Payton,and Williams go off we will be going home. We shot really bad from the floor but still had a chance to win. Our boys will not say it, but they were beat up from playing 7 games with the CAVs. We made some mistakes and missed tons of open shots, which are signs of no legs. we have to play smart if we are going to pull this one out. Game 2 will be big for us, because it will set the tone for the next 2 games in Miami. If the Pistons win, we take it in 6. If we lose… Ok i will keep it to myself…Oh i use to like D Wade, but he seems to have a Big head now. Being humble goes a long way with me. But that cat does not have a humble bone in his body after hanging with O’Neal.
They actually may get similar calls on Wade all series. He always drives out of control and guys like Hunter and Big Ben are great at drawing charges. But I still want to see them punish the Heat when their stars are out.
About D Wade. I liked watching him at Marquette when they made their run. And his first season in the NBA he seemed ok, but after that he turned into Kobe. It’s like Kobe has started his maturing process a little and Wade has taken his place. He whines after every single call, even to the point of leaving his team down a man on defense. He has that same little smirk Kobe used to have when things aren’t going his way. And he’s one of the softest players in the NBA. You won’t hear anyone else in the league blaming injuries as an excuse as much as Dwyane Wade.
Lastly, I’m hoping it’s Rasheed’s ankle still slowing him down and he’ll recover some before next game. He was a Piston killer tonight, taking bad shots and just killing momentum all night long. But you know ‘Sheed won’t blame the ankle, so it’s hard to say what the deal is. All in all, it’s a tough loss, but I know the boys can come back. I just wish their home crowd was a little louder. Even crappy south Florida fans seem to get louder for their team.
I’m not going to blame fatigue or Rasheed’s ankle for last night’s loss. ESPN can say all they about how the score “wasn’t as close as it ended up” but in all honesty, it was. You can say Detroit got a lot of calls in the 1st quarter, but they were all legitimate fouls. I think the “Hack a Ben” strategy is weak, and the rules should be changed to reflect the intentional foul rule in the NCAA at all points during the game. To use the hack a ben strategy just shows that your coach has no confidence in your ability to man up and play defense. Grow a pair of balls..
Detroit was aggresive on offense though, they took a lot of mid-range jumpers and missed a couple of layups. They took 82 shots from the field, and I’d say maybe 33% of them were contested. Miami is not that great of defensive team, so that jump shot is there which plays to the Pistons strengths. Miami’s only real strength on defense is in the paint, and even then you can draw a foul on Shaq or Zo because of their over aggresiveness to block the shot.
I was happy to see the refs calling Shaq’s elbows an offensive foul last night…it was good to see they’re finally making the calls they should have been making his whole career. It’s hard to judge him fairly because of his size, but you have to realize that he initiates about 90% of the contact down low, because that’s his game.
I think Game 2 will be a lot different, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Detroit win out in the next 4 games. They rope a doped a little bit in Game 1…
That was a f—ing disgrace! They had as good a chance as you could expect to get and they didn’t seize it. It’s hardly surprising the fans aren’t making much noise. After a series that made Cleveland look like twice the team they are, I thought maybe, just maybe they might have been woken up. All Sheed and Rip needed to do was have a vaguely average game and that one was ours. All-world backcourt, you’re f—ing joking, more like all-girl backcourt - Chauncey has gone soft. The Heat looked broken after giving up that early lead, but did the Pistons finish them off? did they f—. Somebody explain to Lindsey the difference between a game of play-off basketball and a game of Horse. Looks to me like they need to do some shooting practice or fold tent. Thrown away! (please ignore all comments in the event of a series win).
Fouling a bad free throw shooter is nothing new. Shaq has been dealing with it his entire career. Even Dennis Rodman had to deal with it. Not the best strategy as going over the limit in team fouls is not a good thing. But damnit Ben, hire a freaking shooting coach this summer. It’s disgusting how much your poor shooting hurts the team.
That goofy-looking writer for ESPN, Chris Sheridan, has already proposed a Heat sweep. He’s the only one who didn’t pick the Pistons out of ESPN’s large stable of goofy-looking writers. When I got home to check out the game, the 1st quarter I saw was absolutely one team that had a week off and one team that had just grinded through a 7 game series. Wade was blowing by Rip and Chauncey like they were standing still. I am less concerned than I was after Cleveland tied up the series in Game 4. Though I’m very concerned about Sheed’s ankle. If he can’t find a way to play through it, we probably will be swept.
And what’s with the crowd? Pathetic. I think tickets should be revoked for those front seat cupcakes. Or they should at least swap them out for the Palace faithful stuck in the rafters. If you can’t show up by tip, your ticket should go to the nearest fan with the most Piston-related accesories/face paint.
STOP HATTIN ON THA PISTONS
lets go detroit yo detroit had the day off yesterday so as long as rasheed comes to play this game it is ours and were tieing the series.