If The Chicago Bulls ever had a chance in this series it was Thursday night in game three when they had the Pistons down by as much as 19 points in the third quarter. The Bulls were playing well the first half and controlled the game going into halftime with a 16 point lead.
The Pistons however didn’t let up, locking down on defense and mounting a huge run late in the third quarter to take them within one point going into the fourth, thanks to a huge three by Rasheed. It was all Pistons in the fourth as Detroit took game three in Chicago 81-74 to lead the series 3 – 0.
Key Points:
- The Bulls played very well in the first half and it looked like they would come out with the win.
- Chicago’s inexperience and youth really showed in the fourth quarter.
- The Pistons are on the verge of another Swiff.
- No NBA team has won a best-of-seven series after dropping the first three games.
- If you watched the game on FSN you could clearly hear a Pistons fan screaming SWEEP in the closing seconds of the ball game.
- The Bulls won the battle of the glass, out-rebounding The Pistons 60-43.
- Rip kept The Pistons in the game in the first half.
- Was it just me or did the rims have a lot of spring in them.
- Credit the comeback to Sheed, Tay and Mr. Big Shot.
- Tayshaun put up a double – double, scoring 13 points in the third quarter. He finished with 23 and 11 boards.
Photo By Clarence Tabb Jr. / The Detroit News
- The United Center crowd was stunned.
- The Pistons zone really gave the Bulls a hard time.
- If you live in Michigan and you were watching the FSN broadcast you heard Mr. George Blaha give a shout out to Need4Sheed. Wow!
- Tayshaun went 6 for 6 in the third quarter to help mount the comeback.
- Ben Wallace was everywhere in the first half and almost invisible in the second.
- I think this might be the best Pistons comeback in a very long time.
- Intimidate and Dominate.
- This Pistons team looks hungry and determined. They have one goal.
- Chauncey started out slow, but he knocked them down when we needed him. Mr. Big Shot had 21 points, 2 steals, 7 assists and 4 rebounds.
Photo By Daniel Mears / The Detroit News
- I found myself screaming SHEEEEED plenty of times during the game.
- Surprisingly this game was all starters. Sheed, Rip, Tay and Chauncey combined for 76 points. C-Web didn’t score and Dice scored just 3 while Maxiell added 2 off the bench.
- “I was encouraged. We knew at the start of the game we allowed them to take the first punch and we weren’t as aggressive as we should have been,” Billups said. Then he explained the comeback: “It was our defensive pressure. It allowed us to get in the passing lanes, get steals. We had settled too much. In the second half we got aggressive and played Piston basketball.”
- Ben Wallace was late for the game and wouldn’t give an explanation. Skiles was pissed.
- The Pistons attempted just two free throws in the first half.
- If you didn’t get to see this one, you really missed out. Well, not if your a Bulls fan.
- Nocioni looked a bit teary-eyed after the game.
- Sheed has never been so focused. He wants nothing less than a Ring and some new Championship Belts. Rasheed put up another double – double, scoring 16, with 5 monster blocks, 11 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal. Another SHEEDtastic performance.
- When Sheed blocked Deng’s shot with 5.4 seconds left in the third, and he hit the 3-pointer at the buzzer to pull the Pistons within one to start off the fourth (61-60), it took everything out of the crowd and the Bulls.
Photo By Daniel Mears / The Detroit News
- The Pistons poise and composure since the Playoffs started is undeniable.
- Detroit native and Need4Sheed reader Raj Senapati, who is now living in Boston, informed me that a buddy of his and Piston fan Maneesh Gulati flew from Boston to Chicago to catch the Pistons play the Bulls. As the Pistons were pulling away in the forth quarter Raj got a text message from Maneesh that simply said…”I am about to get my ass beat!” Gotta love Pistons fans.
- The Pistons held the Bulls to 30 points in the second half, while scoring 53 themselves.
- These Pistons look simply unstoppable.
- From ESPN’s The Daily Dime’s Chris Sheridan “On Sunday, nobody should even show up in this stadium,” one disgusted fan told me as he exited his seat with three seconds remaining while those who stayed behind were booing the home team. It was an emotional roller coaster of a night for those fans, whose hopes were sky-high at halftime after the Bulls held the Pistons to 28 points but were in the gutter afterward.
- This one has got to hurt worse than games 1 and 2 for The Bulls and their fans.
Hey Natalie can you post the video if you have of Rip and Chauncey because those two were so cute and funny.
the rims were so springy, it was the loudest sound every dunk or shot and all the psitons shots in the first half just kept going in and out, cwebb coujdnt catch a break
United Center rims are known for being very tight, as opposed to Cameron Indoor where the rims are known for being very loose and forgiving.
-Eric
Really was an awesome performance.. the Pistons came out in the third confident they would erase the huge deficit.. the thing is, the Bulls had already accepted they would too.
I can’t wait to go to the United Center on Sunday and bring my broom. I live in Chicago, and all I’ve been hearing on the radio all day is depressed sports radio personalities speak of the mighty Pistons. Goodbye Scott Skiles
BiggPharoah…
Take some Pictures!
‘Sheed’s block on Deng was by far my favorite play of the entire game. He sent him straight to the floor! WAABAM!
Stever Kerr:
“I’m not so sure the Pistons aren’t THE team to beat right now, regardless of what happens out West.”
WOW, what a comeback.
They need to get rid of Ben (ain’t no Jordan) he is a really bad PG, turnovers, not directing traffic, making horrible shots…etc. (he really a UC Huskie?)
2 old dudes, PJ and Big Ben were trying to keep them in the game…ugh!
On the other hand, Natalie, have you been getting harrassing warnings from the NBA since they went “Public” and are trying to protect their copyrights now?
The lack of class and respect floating around Chicago is unfathomable to me. The fans started giving up in the middle of Game 2. The Chicago sports writers were even worse – basically writing the obituary halfway through the season. And then you have Skiles basically sitting motionless and silent while his team struggles. And Ben Wallace shows up late and doesn’t spend time with his squad. I’ve never seen such awful disrespect for a team that’s put up such a great fight up to this point. I hate to say it, but the Chicago Bulls deserve better than this. No matter how much our Pistons got beat down, I don’t see that we would EVER give up on them like Chicago is doing to their Bulls.
haha check this out on espn.com the bulls fans apprently like to jump the gun a little fast
I had the link but I guess they delete them after a while so heres some of the things they were saying before half time
Wow the 5th seeded Bulls are DESTROYING the Pistons where the Pistons play best….away
United Center=best crowd in the NBA. Not many teams can win in here. see ya in game 5, when its 2-2
I think the Bulls spoted the pistons 2 wins. Noway, can the Pissedons beat the Bulls 2 games straight like that. These are the real Bulls. And i won’t besurprised if the Bulls win the next 4 games.
Chicago isnt chocking anymore. Pistons are old and will be lucky to win another game. This is how the bulls swept the heat , its how they play.
oh god they are funny…and the funny thing is once the pistons came back they never said another word.
Natalie, will you marry me?
Natalie- congrats on the shout out by Blaha!! I’m sure he was wearing your T-shirt under his shirt:)
Count that baby… AND a foul! (weren’t you just waiting for that after tay’s dunk!?!)
Actually Ben Wallace excuse/explanation for being late in game 3 was, “I was in a lot of traffic”.
what video of chauncey and rip?
Who really cares if Ben was late? Doesn’t matter at all. Chicago should worry about other things…
lol, dom.
As much as I love blowout games like Games 1 and 2, I’m really glad this game played out the way it did. I love watching Detroit go into other peoples’ houses and allow the opposing team to think it’s going to win and then BOOM! Crushes its dreams down to nothing! It’s a beautiful thing!
Sorry, deleted my first post. Looked like I was typing it while drunk….
That guy yelling “SWEEP” towards the end of the game was hilarious. Blaha even had to laugh at it. You could also hear Sheed yelling “the ball don’t lie” quite a bit this game. I love it.
I can’t believe how quiet the United Center was the entire second half. Sheed and Billups were destroying them on the offensive end. And then Tayshaun’s dunk…priceless.
Anyone notice Ben had little playing time in the 2nd half? I bet him and Skiles have plenty of fueds this offseason. The Bulls pouted the entire second half. Gordon didn’t even get back up when Prince blocked him.
And Sheed….wow is he playing in a zone. That block on Dang was just wicked. I would love to watch that again…..and again……and again 🙂
Go Pistons!
-Nate
lol dom, that’s funny
you know what they say… the older the wiser!! AMAZING game!! shows the true meaning of heart!
We can all see the Piston’s focus in their eyes. They want that ring as bad as we do! And hopefully we get it.
I really hope the Pistons close it out on Saturday. I knew they would win the series, but I never expected it to be this blown open.
And is it me or does anyoen else notice how the Pistons are no longer joking around with Ben on the court anymore like they used to? He must FINALLY have realized that he made a huge mistake
I WANT TO SEE THE VIDEO OF RIP TALKING ABOUT CHAUNCEY when it comes to if he’s leaving. rip said, if he goes, i go =[
natalie, plz tell me you have it! it was on espn. of course, i was watching fsn.
I think they are ignoring Ben because they don’t want friendship to get in the way. I mean like they said this is a business. I was mad Ben left, but he left a good thing. I thought it was pretty funny when Ben said “I texted McDyess and he didn’t text me back.” That was funny. I hope he didn’t think he was gonna come and knock our guys around like he knocks everybody else around. They had fun together in the regular season, but its a different story in the playoffs. What if Ben accidentally had a flash back during the game and thought he was playing with the Pistons again and went up and block Ben Gordon’s shot. That would be so funny. I can just imagine the look on his face right now.
4:07 it does matter!
Check out NBA.com, top ten plays of the season, guess whos 60 foot buzzer beater is no.1
can you please post the rip interview about chauncey?
“ can you please post the rip interview about chauncey? ”
I taped the FSN broadcast not ESPN..Sorry
I actually MISSED something by not watching ESPN? Figures…
But that’s so cute that Rip said he’d leave if Chauncey did. I mean, it’d be bad for the franchize and us fans but it’s still cute ’cause they’re buddies. But I don’t think we have anything to worry about. Both are going to be around for a long time…
dude i typed ni need4seed by mistake, came up wiv a website about seeds and blueberry seeds
Anyone else notice in the Ben interview about being late that he referred to his team (or it’s management) as they or them? Almost seems like he is a loner and doesn’t feel part of Chicago.
This was an emotional game, ups and downs, the first half sucked they were just not playing Pistons ball, while I give the Bulls credit for what they did I think it was the Pistons playing bad more than chicago playing good.
Ben was angry about being fined for being late and he actually left an interview with Jim Gray (Hate that guy, same one who was trying to make it seem like the Pistons wanted DWAde to get surgery so they wouldn’t have to worry about him, even though they didn’t really)
That thing with Patrick Stewart as Professor X in X-Men the Last Stand was sweet even though that movie sucked.
Tay dunk, awesome. Sheed block and 3, pimperiffic. Second half no words to describe.
Little CWebb in the second half. I was really shocked when we were struggling with our energy that We didn’t see Jason Maxiell dude’s a beast and I couldn’t believe he only came in for the las minute of the first half.
Bench didn’t do much but actually I thought it was more that the starters weren’t giving them the ball at all that made them not play as well, luckily the starters played good enough.
That crowd sucked, when your team is struggling you’re supposed to lift them up and I thought they were pretty quite in the second half. That’s why Pistons fans are great we will cheer till our lungs explode, even if we’re losing.
lol blueberry seeds…
Yeah, Ben seems like he’s just kind of existing in Chicago. It’s weird. I thought that this series was going to be all about him and the Pistons and so far it’s as if he’s been out injured or something. And that’s not going by the stats or anything. Everyone knows you can’t judge what Ben does by the boxscore but it’s like his presence isn’t even a factor like it used to be in Detroit. I’ve read quite a few articles in Chicago papers and a lot of the writers are basically calling him a bad deal. It’s probably the kind of thing most Pistons fans wanted but on the other hand it’s a little sad.
P.S. I wonder if the Chicago fan who said nobody should even show up on Sunday was the same person that said Detroit fans are weak… If booing your team when it’s down and assuming it’s going to get swept isn’t weak, I don’t know what is.
Ahh, Detroit fans. If you can’t beat us, just stand back and envy us!
I had to watch it on ESPN because I was over my cousins house and didnt know what channel FSN was… but I guess it paid off when I seen the RIP/CHAUNCEY interview. Here is breif explanation to what they said:
-They asked them to tell one thing no one knows about about them except for eachother and RIP said that CB was too nice. HE knows every team member of other teams and when at other peoples courts he says HI to everyone from the players to the ushers. He knows them all. CB said that RIP is always in the locker room before games, free styling about the other team and how they’re gonna lose which I thought was funny. But he said that RIP can really free style.
-When asking RIP what he thinks about CB leaving, he said “I cant imagine it. If he goes I go. Naw, but honestly we came into this team together and its been that way since. I cant imagine playing with any other PG. When he was out earlier this season, it was hard for me. But CB aint going no where. We’re both staying right here in DETROIT!!!” CB just smiled!!
and when he finished saying that one of the brodcasters (idk which one) said I knew RIP was CB’s new agent and that was funny!
That is so sexii!!!
OMFG I WANNA SEE IT! would it be on espn or something?!
is chauncey with rip in the interview?
Nice post Nat.. I did get to watch this game well it was on because I was at work doing some reports but my boss checked the score for me at it was 55-44 bulls with something like 5.02 left in the second. I was like we can still come back but if not one loss is not bad. I decided I was not going to check the score and woud just watch then game once I got home on raptors NBA. Anyway after we had out in all the time we could for the night we went out for a drink and I was able to watch the bulls take the last foul shot and seem the score I was mad and happy at the same time. Its just more exciting watching the game and not knowning the score. I stillw atched the game at home and it was great. I really think there will be a sweep if the pistons keep up this play which I think they will. I guess last season the pistons were trying to get 70 wins even if they said they weren’t this year tehy are trying nothing nothing and on passe to det a second for most wins in a roll for piston fran.
yeah they are sitting side by side. Chauncey has on a black jacket with a hat on backwards, and Rip has on a blue jacket. They look hot. WOOOO!!!
I WANNA SEE IT SOOO BAD
holy crap did anyone see what baron davis did to AK47, Im a pistons fan all the way but what has gotten into Baron this year?
I am a Pistons fan who has closely been watching Golden State. Davis’s slam was awesome. That team is pretty exiting to watch when they are doing well.
Nat, according to DBB, there’s a great Rasheed “buttholes” quote. You gotta get this audio!
cant wait for tomorrow.. but on a side note has anyone else noticed every picture you see of baron davis he is yelling as loud as he can haha
jp
when is the thing with the pistons and ahmad on?! and waht channel?
ITS ON ABC!! IM WATCHING IT!!
Feruw
If I find it…it’s as good as up.
i thought the ahmad thing was on sunday??? oh man, i missed it =[