Really. That’s it.
Unless you wanted to get into how Chicago’s big three of Gordon, Hinrich and Deng combined for 63 points, or how Big Ben turned back the clock (in a good way this time) with 17 boards, or how Chris Webber went 0-for-Chicago, or how Rasheed Wallace missed 10 three-pointers … that Flip Murray dunk is probably the only thing worth remembering from this game.
(Though even that dunk lost some of it’s “cool factor” when Murray proceeded to miss the ensuing free-throw and Hinrich immediately drew a foul on the other end … but still, for at least a moment, it helped take the sting off what was a frustrating game to watch.)
[Update: Murray’s stare-down is vindicated! Witness Hinrich’s nut shot in the third angle of the replay. (Thanks to Justin for pointing it out.)]
The final score is both accurate and deceiving at the same time, if that makes any sense. The Bulls were in control of the game for good once they closed out the first half with an 11-1 run to take a seven-point lead into halftime. A disastrous third quarter saw Detroit trailing by as many as 23, but that was followed by a predictable comeback bid which saw the Pistons cut the lead to single-digits late in the fourth.
Unfortunately, the Pistons could never quite get over the hump. The key play as I saw it down the stretch was when Chauncey Billups was posting up with the Pistons down seven with a few minutes left in the game. A bucket would have made it a two-possession game, but instead Billups was called for charging. Ben Gordon quickly hit a three on the other end, turning a would-be two-possession game into a double-digit deficit.
That was pretty much it. The Pistons tried to stretch out the clock with some fouls, even turning to the Hack-a-Ben strategy, which was foiled when Ben Wallace hit three of four free throws (and good for him — I’ve always thought that was an ugly way to play the game). All of that constant fouling to stop the clock at the end allowed Chicago to pad their lead.
So while a 15-point loss is deceiving in that Detroit actually had a chance to win late in the game, it’s accurate in that they had no business winning. Chicago shot extremely well (49.3% compared to Detroit’s 37.3%) and killed Detroit on the boards (51 to 33).
This was a frustrating game, but let’s keep things in perspective: no one predicted a sweep before Game 1, and most of us would have been happy with a split in Chicago. With their backs against the wall, the Bulls finally came to play for the first time the entire series.
It was bound to happen sooner or later — despite their best efforts to convince you otherwise in the first three games, the Bulls are in fact a good team. Certainly not a title contender, no, but definitely a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs. Besides, the silver lining (there isn’t one, I’m being kind) is that ticket-holders for Game 5 now have a chance to see the Pistons clinch the series at home on Tuesday.
Bulls 102, Pistons 87 box score [ESPN]
Flip Murray’s Dunk In, On and Over Kirk Hinrich’s Face [FanHouse]
I always thought the stare down after a dunk is pretty lame move in general, but when it’s coupled with an almost twenty point deficit it becomes uber-lame. Keep walking Flip…
I think that there was a reason other than the obvious for why he stared what’s his name down. I have to give credit to whoever said it first on need4sheed but if you wait for the under the basket angle on the replay you will notice that perhaps what’s his name punched Flip in the junk….or at least attempted to as he was falling backwards. Good job keeping your head Flip and not attacking him.
Bulls in 7.
Oh my… you’re right. Nice cheap shot what’s your face. Good catch. My apologies Flip.
Bulls in 12.
Justin — wow, I watched that replay dozens of times but for some reason missed that. I’m putting something on FanHouse about this soon.
Hey P.Latch, YOUR AN IDIOT! BULLS IN SEVEN? Yeah, seven years from now!
Wow. Neither pimp gunshots after late night stripper hunts, nor cheap junk shots can stop Flip. We got guys that get tazered and keep on rebounding. What y’all got in Chicago? Nice guys from Swaziland or somethin’? Come on. Cats living in highrises on Lake Michigan can’t compete with dudes for whom the commute to work is a life-and-death matter. “Bulls in seven”? Not even if there were seven more games would the Bulls pull this out!
Skiles deserves credit for saying exactly the right thing to his team. He didn’t try to convince them they could win the series. He simply said I want you to experience a close-out game in Detroit because it will make you a better team. And show me you want to go back to Detroit.
Obviously, it’s doubtful they’ll win the series but Skiles’s showing why he could be the coach to take them to the next level.
Wow, nice catch on the nut shot! Damn. That was a highlight reel dunk, too bad it came in a loss.
We’ll clinch it on Tuesday, we needed the wake-up call.
Sorry. Bulls OR Pistons in game 7. My prediction is games 5 and 6 will go the good guys who play with the heart of a lion. (not to confused with the Detroit lions). I just feel that no Bulls Player has had a great game yet, with maybe the exception of Hinrich in Game 4. They are due to step up, and they are due to start hitting over 33% from the field as they did the 1st 3 games.
There were some pistons fans in the UC game 4. It should be noted that we often silenced them with chants of “superbowl” and “Lions Suck” and “wide - re - ceiv-ers” They responded with “3 to zero”, when we finally pointed to all of our championship banners and chants of “jordan” etc. booyah. See you in game 7.
“There were some pistons fans in the UC game 4. It should be noted that we often silenced them with chants of “superbowl” and “Lions Suck” and “wide - re - ceiv-ers” They responded with “3 to zero”, when we finally pointed to all of our championship banners and chants of “jordan” etc. booyah. See you in game 7.”
How empty is your life that you would consider the above exchange to be worthy of any sort of pride?
LA Mike—
wow your life must suck that you cannot take an exchange from a crowd at a playoff game. on paper. would suck to be you.
Hey P.Latch, why do you come on a Piston fan website and act like a fool? Do you ever wonder why people outside of Chicago think you boys are baby S#$@ talkers and do nothing but run your mouths? Now I’m not getting chippy here, I have friends from Chicago and we go at it about sports, but I don’t understand why you come on a Detroit Piston website and talk trash?!?! You can talk about the past all you want, but your bulls got beat three times THIS year in the playoffs by MY Pistons! Plain and simple! I didn’t think the baby bulls referred to their fans to! Listen I respect the bulls,Jordan,and all that Chicago does, but it is hard to respect the fans when they just run their mouths ALL THE TIME!
wow, chants of Lions suck and super-bowl at a basketball game.
The pathetic thing about the game is… I hear so much about how great of a sports’ town Chicago is, and with the team up 10+ points in the 4th quarter I could count on one hand how many of those stupid “rally towels” I saw waving around.
When a crowd begins chanting “Detroit sucks” when down 3-0, you know they’re off their gd rockers… All you Chicago fans that chant about Detroit and/or the Lions, just realize who has scoreboard on your bulls team.
Well put Boney! I agree all the way! DETROIT PISTONS 4 LIFE!
First of all, sorry about the post, i wasn’t trying to talk trash, just give you guys a feel of the game, but you had to be there to understand, and i didnt fully explain it but basically there was a lot of heckling going on from these pistons fans for no reason and it got going. sorry, i won’t share next time.
“When a crowd begins chanting “Detroit sucks” when down 3-0, you know they’re off their gd rockers ”
you obviously heard this on tv since i didnt mention it, but that is not about being down 0-3; that goes on every time the pistons come into chicago to play, regardless of playoffs or regular season or etc, as long as i can remember, at least as long as since the pistons tried to physically hurt the bulls and created “The Jordan Rules” to beat the Bulls. - Don’t try to blame me for this, I am simply passing along information.
“I don’t understand why you come on a Detroit Piston website and talk trash?!?! ”
You have got to be kidding, look at blogabull. Peeps like boney have been talking trash on our sites for weeks. And secondly, i dont think i was talking trash. That the Lions are terrible and that the Bulls will win games 5 and 6 are just plain old facts.
“it is hard to respect the fans when they just run their mouths ALL THE TIME!”
check out this article about Detroit Fans behind the Bulls bench in games 1 and 2. Security guards came several times to warn them. If you search elsewhere you can find out what they were saying.
http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/story.asp?id=312767