A tale of two teams and I don’t mean the Sixers and Pistons. That’s what it all boils down to in Detroit’s 93-84 win to even up their series with the Sixers 2-2. The Sixers came out strong controlling the tempo and having their way with Detroit. It looked like a mirror image of game three and Detroit looked like they were on their way to going down 3-1 in the series to the seventh seed Sixers. However, things changed after halftime.
Detroit, down 10 at the half, came out of the locker room a whole different team. The Pistons poured in the first 11 points of the half to take the lead and get back on track. From then on it was a whole new ball game, literally. Wallace and Billups were hitting threes, Rip Hamilton was knocking shots down and Tayshaun Prince hit 11 of his 12 shots on the night. The Pistons third quarter surge when they outscored the Sixers 34-16 took away any sort flow in the game that Philly had established.
Key Points:
- That Pistons team we don’t really care for started the game and the real Pistons stepped on court at the half to finish the game.
- The Sixers led by as much as 14 in the first half.
- Rip, who was ice cold in the first half came out hot in the second. He went on a tear in the fourth when he scored 10 consecutive Pistons points. At the end of the night he had put up 18 points and 5 boards, adding 7 assists and a takeaway.
- Chauncey also was ice cold before the half but turned it around after his team headed out of the lockeroom. Billups controlled the tempo and along with it his team. Billups finished with 18 points on 4-16 shooting with 6 boards and 7 assists in 40 minutes.
- Antonio McDyess came off the bench to give life to the team in the fist half. You know the old cliche “Do it for Dyess,” well Dyess did it for them. As soon as he stepped on court Diggity had the fire, he scored 10 and grabbed 4 board in his 20 minutes for Detroit.
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- “Dice was awesome tonight,” Chauncey Billups said. “He was less than 24 hours out of surgery with that broken nose and he willed us. He was getting every rebound, blocking shots, taking charges. He just wanted it and he was a lot more vocal today than he usually is.” Via The Daily Tribune
- 10 turnovers in the first half. Just 4 more to finish out the game.
- Detroit controlled the tempo and controlled the Sixers offensive game by clamping down on defense. There’s no shame in helping your teammate lock their man down.
- Half Court Basketballlll.
- When Detroit came out and grabbed the lead for the first time after the half and the fact that they did it so quickly made me realize that “our” Pistons were back.
- Just 10 bench points for Detroit, all of them coming from McDyess.
- Don’t know about you, but this one had me searching for the Tums.
- Is it just me or does C-Webb seem a little bitter towards his old team? If you caught his remarks after the Dallas-Hornets game you will know what I mean.
- When Rip to Tay happens…..it’s amazing.
Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons, The NBA and TNT
- “Everybody knows that we are good under pressure,” said guard Chauncey Billups said. “I hate that we put ourselves in this position a lot of times.” “I believe in the guys who are in our locker room,’Via NBA.com
- Maxiell 3 blocks, 4 points, 5 boards, an assist and a steal in 30 minutes. Every one of those minutes Maxie was going at 110%.
- So what if I was worried, that’s just how I am. When Sheed hit the threes and the Pistons took the lead for the lead for the first time I screamed so loud I scared the puppy.
- The starters took care of this one getting the bulk of the minutes.
- Tayshaun has been by far the best Piston player this whole series. Not only did Tay hit 12 of his 13 shots on the night to lead the Pistons with 23 points while doing a hell of a job on Andre Iguodala but he’s 19-for-21 in the last two games. His highlights weren’t shabby either.
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- The Fluidics and I both found the way Tay thanked “Blaha” very funny.
So if you happen to be out and about and hear someone’s phone ring “Thank You Blaha,” you’ll know it’s me.
- NBA.com Highlights of The Game.
- “Pistons team president Joe Dumars lamented all last summer over how sick he was of losing to teams that might have been less talented but were much hungrier, but no matter which buttons Saunders tried to push, hunger was exactly what was lacking from the Pistons for a majority of this series. But hunger – all different kinds of hunger -what was fueled McDyess’ first-half play after he was replaced in the starting lineup by Jason Maxiell.” Via Chris Sheridan ESPN.com
- Another double-double for Samuel Dalembert with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
- Board war even at 39.
- 34 to 16 third quarter did the trick for Detroit.
- “I told them, ‘Guys, we’re playing tight, we’re afraid to take a shot, afraid to make a move and when you play like that is when you make mistakes. Just relax, we are a good basketball team. Just go out there, hit somebody and have some fun.” Via The Detroit News
- So that’s what happened in the locker room at the half…I bet some other words were said too.
- Sheedtastic anyone? I guess the technical foul Rasheed was called for before halftime really set thing rolling. It was Sheed’s threes (four of them) that really helped bury the Sixers early in the third. A double-double on the night for RA with 20 points and 10 boards with 3 assists and a steal.
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- “Wallace cracked up when the 76ers showed a “separated at birth” timeout video comparing an open mouth shot of him next to Jimmie Walker’s “JJ” character from “Good Times.” Via NBA.com
- I know I’m not the only one who thought Detroit looked a little scared in the first half.
- You don’t need to go to an Ivy League school to know that Flip’s job is on the line.
- The Pistons bench was more than animated the whole second half, in fact I don’t remember them sitting.
- “I know what’s going to be written tomorrow — the Pistons flipped the switch,” he said. “But I don’t think we did that. What happened was, we just relaxed and played. I thought we competed in the first half and we competed (in Game 3) until they made their big run. I think what happened was, we finally got a few things worked out on the court and, finally, we had a little bit of fun.” Via The Detroit News
- Now that’s Deeeetroit Basketballll.
- Post game wrap up from myTV20 showed it all.
You may have slowed down ‘Dyess but you dang sure can’t stop him! Now you’ve jsut made him angry…
I got home from work. I saw the score at half-time 36-46. I was just shocked and very upset at what I was seeing. So I threw the remote away and ran back down-stairs and try to get my mind off the game. After like 5 minutes I couldn’t help but run back up-stairs and grab the remote to check the game. When I turned the tv ON I saw Rasheed bust a three and make it. I realize that the pistons had a lead of 7 points. SO I got very confused I thought to myself how the hell are WE LEADING so FAST??? I thought maybe at half-time I read the score wrong… maybe it was 46-36 PISTONS! LOL
But nope… It was DETROIT BASKETBALL… and I realize our boys fought their way back into the game. I am just super pumped right now and its 12:28 AM (PST)… There isn’t much to do at this time. Therefore, I decided to share my thoughts with the rest of you.
Hopefully, we will stay hot and we will SHINE like a LIGHT HOUSE!
PEACE
I didn’t hear what C-Webb said but I know he said that the team takes on the personality of Joe Dumars, regardless of what Flip says. He’s completely right; he was part of the team last year and he is aware of the interaction that goes on between them.
Yeah that was some real DETROIT BASKETBALL in the second half!
I liked that guy at the end of the highlights video! 😉
GOOO PISTONS !
Is there some way we could get Sheed Tee’d up at the start of every game, and then get
Nick Nolte to drop into the locker room at half time?
Natalie, I caught a glimpse of the 1st half when the sixers stole the ball and made a dunk. I just wanted to throw up right that instant.
I think Arnie needs to bring some medications for ADD along with him to give to the players at half time. Because honestly, i think most of the Pistons players have ADD. They just can’t concentrate sometimes.
Regardless, I pray that there’s no need for Tums or for Ibuprofen after game 5.
Horrible first half, but the 2nd half looked like the team we watched all year hopefully they r back to stay for the rest of the playoffs cuz this sixers team had its spot light.. now they need to be buried!
nat, dyess picture with the fire background looks like a beast on fire. i never saw mcdyess with a mask on and a little worried how it might affect his game. when he made his first shot, that pretty much answered my question. in my gut feeling i knew we got this game after seeing the first half, for simple reason…..ur probably right, they did look kinda’ scared in the first half, but to me, at the same time, they looked worried, really worried and i thought that just showed that they do care about the game and on winning the it. in the 2nd half it all boils down to getting it done.
Natalie
i am loving the Dyess pic! thats great, the look on his face and everything – you did an awesome job on that.
and thanks for giving ‘Tay the fireball too.
well deserved!
Chris Webber’s halftime comments were so revealing about the Pistons leadership. He dismissed Flip’s ranting and raving potential and suggested Joe Dumars’ presence in the locker room had more influence during the half. If this is the case, Flip gotta go, because we need the team motivated during gameplay, not during intermission. So many of the team’s issues can be fixed by a lil demanding coaching. “Sheed, get your ass down low!!!”, “Chauncey, Stuck, Rip, Tay, finish at the rim first, look for the foul second!!! “Fast Break Drills for everyone because other than Tay and Max, we are horrible at finishing the break”, “Stop the too cool shit or else”. See I did it, so if Flip can’t maybe Joe or Laim or Dave or Curry, but someone gotta be demanding
claire, i was feeling the same way after that dunk…i realize i needed to calm down and just see what additional effort our guys would do in the 2nd half. i think pistons were channeling their energy in a way that wouldn’t get their game start…..in the second half, the game got slower which puts us in favor and in addition, we started making shots that eliminated sixers run and allowed pistons to set their defense.
so ruben, if c-webb commented that all our guys take a 5minute nap during the half time then i guess u would’ve believed it too!? cwebb comments last night draws a fine line of being honest or being frustrated/depressed of not being in the playoffs….furthermore, a decision he has made that ended his career. in other words, its human nature to say something a little bad about the company you came from and rejected you from getting re-hired. in consequence, wheather he was telling the truth or not reflects as a bad reputation.
haha @ ?uesto picking his hair in the post-game vid
I’m not a flip saunders fan, but im confident enough to say that hes one of the reason we won game 4
Flip said: “I looked at us playing in the first half, and we’ve got Antonio McDyess, who got operated on yesterday in Detroit, flew back and was throwing up all night, and he’s competing harder than anybody. That should show you how bad he wants it, and we all should look at what he’s doing, and we’ve all got to be willing to make the same sacrifices.”
I was at the game, heres some stuff you may have missed…
-Sheeds pregame warm up consisted of…
–juggling basketballs
–Shooting backwards
–Shooting 3’s lefty
–Shooting behind the backboard
–Shooting from halfcourt
–Bounce passing the ball into the basketball rack.
–Didn’t take 1 actual shot before the game.
-The Sixers put up a thing on the JumboTron that was called “Separated At Birth” And made fun on Piston players and who they look like, It was great…
–Rip=Hannibal Lectar (sp?)
–McDyess=Jar Jar Binks
–The Rattler=Gary Coleman
–Tayshaun=Howdy Dudy
—I forget some of the others, but all of the Pistons were laughing.
xXxRiPHammyxXx dang I wish I could have seen that, that sounds like it was funny
I gotta agree with you ric. I’m not a big Flip fan either, but I gotta give him his due because I thought letting the starters play in the 2nd half really allowed them to get in a rhythm and that’s what allowed the Pistons to pull out a win.
I thought this was a great game by Tayshaun, he didn’t just shoot, he did everything. That one play where he and Rip (i think) dove on the floor for that loose ball really spoke to how hard they were fighting.
Even if they lost that game, i would be disappointed, but I could live with it because they played hard
Dyess being vocal= VICTORY
And why is everyone calling all the fans who doubted whether or not the Pistons could pull it out bandwagoners?
Sure there were a couple people who said they weren’t cheering for them anymore but it had to do with the Pistons effort, not whether they won or lost, especially with them practically promising the fans a championship.
And for the most part I’ve heard a lot of venting and negatives about the Pistons, but there were only a few actually saying they were jumping of the wagon. And everyone seems to using the term bandwagon for anyone who saw something the Pistons were doing bad and commented on it. Like Natalie’s previous post said, it’s time to stick together.
Also while I feel really good about this win, remember we are not even close to achieving our goal of a championship, it was a good half of a game, but we have a lot more hurdles to overcome.
BTW am i the only one having trouble reading the letters for the word verification?
by the way…..is there anyone willing to stream the game tomorrow? its only televise locally. i hate the fact that they are not making pistons a priority to be nationally televise….theyre putting mavs/hornets over pistons/sixers??? it must be a rating thing.
This game doesnt change my opinion. IF and (it’s a BIG IF) Detroit can hold off Philly, it still stands almost zero chances against powerful Orlando, nevermind Boston.
Really Marek?
Boston lost to ATL the other night, every team loses games (except the Lakers).
ABOUT FLIP:
I have one bit of insight for you guys. have you ever thought that joe keeps flip around, not because he coaches well, but because he does EVERYTHING that joe asks him to do? think about our last 3 coaches. None of them did the most important things that joe asked them to do. It turns out he was right about all of those things (play tay, play the youngsters, don’t finagle around with other teams, etc.). so regardless of what the team does in the playoffs this year, i think flip stays, because he’s a good corparate worker.
ABOUT DICE!:
MOVE DICE TO THE BENCH! START HIS 6TH MAN OF THE YEAR CAMPAIGN NOW!!!! maxi plus the other four as starters, with dice as the leader of the benchies would be like basketball AWESOMENESS!!! think about how the spurs pull gino-blow-me off the bench and are super effective with him!