Wow. That game was … wow.
As Henry Abbott pointed out on TrueHoop, Pistons fans are no strangers to suffering through heartbreaking Game 5 losses. But you know what? I’ll take this. This feels different.
Believe me, there’s plenty of frustration and a tinge a regret for the missed opportunity, but really, nothing has changed: the Pistons are still alive, and they still need to win twice.
Yeah, they have a smaller margin of error, but that’s overrated; had they won last night and instead lost Game 6 at the Palace, Boston would have all the momentum, fans would be jumping off tall buildings and everyone would be ripping the Pistons for backing into a Game 7. Instead, playing in a Game 7 will be a feel-good story … and after watching the Celtics fall apart in the fourth quarter for two straight games, you know there will be a Game 7.
Boston has been wilting under pressure, and you have to believe they’ll crack in front of a frenzied Palace crowd. What, do you expect Doc Rivers to rescue them? Not a chance — he’s as big of a reason as any why the Celtics have already played 20 games in the playoffs.
I loathe the idea of relying on past performance to carry a team into the future, but as Chauncey Billups points out, this is where experience actually matters:
“Our experience of being in so many of these situations will help us and being in front of our fans will help us,” Billups said. “Those are the things you’ve got to lean on when you are facing elimination. We’re going to scratch and claw and do the things we’ve been known to do and try and get back here (to Boston) for Game 7.”
A lot of things went wrong last night — getting killed on the boards 42 to 25 being my biggest gripe — but a lot of things went right. Rasheed Wallace and Chauncey Billups have officially busted their slumps; Rodney Stuckey continues to improve in leaps and bounds; Lindsey Hunter is playing like he wants to earn his entire salary in one series. Those things bode well for Game 6.
And while there are still some serious questions — will Rip Hamilton play? why is Tayshaun Prince passing up open shots? — I’m feeling surprisingly confident. Maybe I just don’t want the season to end, or maybe the window just seems to be open wider than a year ago thanks to the young bench, but I think there’s more to it.
After watching this team battle and claw their way back in the fourth, I can’t even fathom losing on Friday — not one bit.
If Rip can’t play, that’s a huge problem for the Pistons, but if everyone is relatively healthy, I like our chances in game 6, and then anything can happen in game 7. The last two fourth quarters have been encouraging, and you would think Boston would be getting tired.
But we have to do something about rebounding. I understand Lawyerboy’s points that the raw numbers don’t always tell the story, but numbers with this type of discrepancy are revealing, especially where the other team is shooting a reasonably high percentage and STILL getting a ton of offensive rebounds.
Amen Matt..
We will win Game Six.
This was definitely a butt-clenching game, and we did indeed lose. I oddly feel fine about it however for some reason. I think it’s because Detroit really played well for stretches of the game, and up until 8 seconds, the game was still winnable. We’ll take 6 - game 7 is another story.
We can take game 6 even with out Rip. Game 7 is a different story though…he has to be healthy for that one if it happens.
I think if we’ve seen anything in this series, its that momentum has meant nothing. I really don’t think anything can be taken out of game 5 that will matter in game 6 or 7 (except for potential injuries). Each game to this point has had its own identitiy.
If I were a betting man (and I am), I’m seeing it coming back here to Boston for Game 7, but honestly there isn’t anything that would surprise me in this series.
While I don’t think Doc’s saving anyone, I don’t think Flip’s going to be exploiting anyone either. We all know either of these guys will be playing checkers against Phil or Pop’s chess in the finals. Hopefully the physical east D will wear out either of the west opponents, because we know the west will win any coaching battle.
2 wins or 1 loss to decide who’s the better team.
I too find myself oddly comfortable with this loss.
If the Pistons had managed to pull-off the comeback win, they would almost certainly have followed it up with a devastating, low-energy loss at home.
I expect McDyess to do some damage on the boards in game 6 and hopefully that will be enough to force game 7.
I think that part of the reason that everyone is okay with the loss is that it was pretty clear that while the Celtics were awarded the win, the Pistons were the team that really earned it. Not that the Pistons didn’t make mistakes, but they can’t control the way the game is called, they can’t control KG banking in desperation 3-pointers, they can’t control a lot of things. Game 5 gave us a team that often doesn’t have to work hard to win working their butts off. If they play game six the way they played in the fourth quarter and somehow are defeated I’ll be satisfied too, because that is all I could really ask of them.
On a similar note, this is why I get sick of hearing about the Pistons “legacy”. Win a championship or lose on Friday, this is still the 2nd best team of the decade (just behind the Spurs). The amount of championships won may change how people 10 years from now remember them, but it doesn’t change the facts.
That sounds an awfully lot like the post you made after Game 2. As a Celtics fan, I’m hoping Game 6 has a similar ring to Game 3.
I can take a lose that when we play hard. Win or lose I just want our guys to play that they care.
wow you actually delete comments that aren’t defending the pistons? classy
Maybe you serious Pitons can enlighten me: Is it Rip’s pushing off arm that is injured?
FLIP MUST GO IT’S TIME FOR CHANGE, THIS TEAM IS TO GOOD TO KEEP LOSING LIKE THIS!!