To say The Detroit Pistons ran out of the starting gate Thursday night in Philadelphia may be an understatement. Rip Hamilton led the charge by hitting his first five shots on Detroit’s way to a crushing series ending 100-77 victory against The Sixers. Next up, a waiting Orlando Magic team who comes into Detroit Saturday well rested and ready to play.
If you really needed to sum up the series in one word it would have to be TAYRIFFIC!
Key Points:
- I know The Sixers gave Detroit a difficult time in this series, but after the third quarter in game four when the Pistons finally turned it on, they were no match. This game was just total domination from start to finish and we all loved it.
- Give it up to the Sixers for putting on the pressure defensively almost the entire game even when it was clear they were beat.
- The starters handed over almost a 30 point lead in the fourth quarter to The Crew to finish it out.
- TNT Pistons-Sixers Halftime Video.
- Rip was fantastic out of the gate scoring Detroit’s first 7 points on his way to 13 first quarter points. Rip himself outscored the whole Sixers team in the first quarter. Mr. Hamilton led the Pistons with 24 points on 9-for-14 shooting with 5 assists, a steal and 2 boards. Good numbers when you consider he was lounging on the bench in the fourth.
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- Richard Hamilton post game interview packed with his highlights.
- By the way Detroit played the last three games (well, two games and 2 quarters) of this series you would have never imagined this going six.
- Detroit a ridiculous 58% shooting night.
- Quiet night for Rasheed who was 3-for-8 for 6 points.
- 28 assists for the Pistons and just 12 for the Sixers.
- Jarvis Hayes has lost his minutes and he’s down in the dumps.
- You can almost always count on a Maxiell highlight. Maxie was 3-for-3 for 9 points, 4 boards and a blocked shot.
Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons and myTV20 Detroit
- Pistons Highlights from myTV20 broken down by quarter.
- The Pistons, Wings and Tigers…..I can barely keep my eyes open this morning. Detroit’s Sports at it’s finest.
- I, along with many of us, have been hard on Flip, but he made adjustments that worked this series. You can’t put the blame on Detroit’s play in game 1 and 3 on Mr. Saunders.
- ESPN ‘s Daily Dime
- Can we confirm that Mr. Big shot is back? I think his buzzer beater at the half to squash any momentum that the Sixers were gaining sure qualifies. Billups put up 20 on 8-for-11 shooting with 7 assists. His 2 shots that he missed were 3’s, pretty impressive when you make three on the night anyway. Good to have you back Smooth.
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- Detroit led by as much as 32 points.
- Amirzing 11 minutes for Johnson. Amir went 5-for-5 for 10 points and 6 boards.
- Flip had mentioned in his post game presser that this series with the Sixers better prepared Detroit for the next round. He’s probably right but it really was a nail-biter at times. I’m glad it’s over.
- Orlando is all grown up and ready for Detroit. “Last year was last year and this is this year,” Howard said. “That was a long time ago. We’re not concerned about what happened last year. Our concern is coming back this year playing harder and better. We’re a lot more mature now.” Via The Detroit News
- Andre Iguodala led the Sixers with 16 points and picked up a technical foul while doing it. If he’s Philly’s franchise player they are in a world of trouble. To me, he’s all highlights and no game.
- Tayriffic all around series for Tayshuan Prince who shot 66% for the series and was the glue that kept this team in the series. You wanted him to step up and he certainly did. Tay had another killer night shooting 5-for-6 for 12 points, adding 7 boards and 4 assists.
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- Who Made You – Tayshaun Prince (video)
- Board war won 39-34.
- Stuckey scored 7 but he’s still a little wild for me. Take your time Stuck, your not going to make a good number of those drives to the paint when your out of control.
- Fourteen minutes for Dyess with 4 points, I almost shed a tear when he got knocked in the face. You could just tell the man was in agony.
- Some of my favorite bloggers were on Detroit Public Radio. I suggest you take a listen.
- I got a kick out of Sheed and his misplaced headband.
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- Sheed does the little things.
- Orlando Saturday 7:30 at The Palace….I can’t wait.
- If this isn’t a Delusional Magic fan I don’t know what is. Yes they are good, but Detroit won’t win because they aren’t superstar driven and their window is closed….seriously?
- Cuzoogle makes it official – Superman vs. Motown
nat, i was starting to wonder where your highlights were. i thought u went to a pistons win-series after party and had a hang over this morning. if im a philly fan, i’d probably say detroit’s game last night was pretty sickening, both ends of the floor.
I almost cried as well when Dice got hit in the nose. I was like just take Dice out right now. You could clearly see he was not comfortable, but I loved the fact that he toughed it out and stayed in the game. Now on to the Magic we need to jump on this team from the get go. No half-stepping this next series. We must be well prepared. We have momentum and it’s important to pounch on them from start to finish. They have been resting waiting on an opponent and maybe we can use that to our advantage.
I like Jarvis. I’ve said as much here, as I thought he was a nice change of pace off the bench, oney scoring. But he hasn’t really been money. When he’s hot, he’s on fire. When he’s not…
What he needs to do here, is shut up and play ball, no crying in a n interview about lost minutes.
You know, if the Pistons were running away with this series, I’d be t you would have seen a whole lot more Jarvis, but the guy doesn’t play D, and defense wins championships.
As for Orlando, I’m glad the game is right away (tomorow night!)
The Pistons are rolling, and a few nights off might cause them to get off edge. I think back to the all star break, when Detroit was killing everyone, and played Orlando after the break and lost, because a rolling Pistons team had too much time off and were out of sync.
I agree Flu, I’m glad the game is tomorrow.
Yes it took me some time to get the recap up…tired from last nights Sprorstaviganza!
It’s funny, that talk about special teams win multiple titles, from a guy boosting a team that hasn’t won shit, ever.
Pistons aren’t getting any younger?
Somebody better tell that to Stuckey, Amir, Showtime, Max etc…
I ain’t saying it’s gonna be easy, but I’m not particularly worried about the Magic. In fact, I’d say tis series should be easier than philly, because philly was red hot and on a mission.
Being in commercials doesn’t make you a good team, and it doesn’t guarentee anything. Lebron is in all types of commercials, and I’ve won as many rings as he has, was in college longer too.
to “The Fluidics”
Worry about the magic. The Pistons should be worried about each and every team they play against during the PO until the number “1” will be crossed out on this site.
Maybe there is nothing to worry about. Maybe you are right. Maybe not. But if there is a lesson after the series with the 76ers, it is this: That “it won’t be easy, but there is nothing to worry about” mentality, by the fans but especially by the guys on the court, does not lead to championships. That “fear” (which is different than being scared) is an essential part of the game.
The first commandment of sports in general is: Respect your opponents and do the best you can. This is even more true in the NBA because of the high level of play.
As long as the Pistons will expect the worse (and that means the best of the Orlando Magic) they will be fine. They are indeed the better team, but being the better team in the NBA playoffs is not enough. Worrying, just enough to make you play your A game, is also a requirement.
The post game interview with Billups indicated that he truly understands this (which made me smile).
Go Pistons!
paranoid and fluid….no we shouldn’t worry about the magic winning the series, but that’s in the fans perspective. yes we should worry about the magic, in the players perspective. i once again agree with flip saunders to just have one day off and that we should be thankful to philly of getting the best of us which keeps pistons on guard. once again, im not a flip fan but just like flip, im glad that we didn’t sweep the sixers…..remember last year??? we swept the magic, got too confident….got 3-0 with the bulls, got more over too confident….had a hard time closing the series……and then when we played cleveland, pistons were completely too over confident but lucky enough to steal 2 wins from cleveland 2-0 but fell outta sync…..i believe in that theory especially if were talking about veterans players..in theory, older people forget easier than young people. which is why our vets could slightly lose their rhytm in a matter of days.
This win was bitterweet for me. Obvioiusly it was great that we won, but I wont see the boys play again until next season when they come back to Philly.
Anywho, this is Pistons basketball we need. Amir Johnson with a near double double in just 10 minutes, that was awesome, when he had that putback slam I jumped out of my seat and slapped the Sixer Bam Bams together as loud as I could, I love that guy.
Maybe I was misunderstood.
When I say I’m not worried about the Magic, thats as a fan, who has confidence in the Pistons. Pistons are on fire right now, and have a taste for playoff wins right now, which makes them dangerous.
Orlando is cocky, over-confident, and sitting around waiting to play for a week. Pistons are in a groove.
For Orlando media to talk big about the Magic superstars being the key to them winning which is in their mind, a done deal, is dicey at best.
Does this Magic superstar squad know what to do when the going gets tough? I doubt it, they’ve not won playoff games under pressure. Writing the Pistons off as a bunch of old nobodies discounts the fact that these nobodies know how to win together, they’ve been doing it for a long time.
yes fluid the orlando is sitting their @$$ waiting for their next opponent…..sounds like detroit to me from last year! i wouldn’t be suprise if at least one of the starting line up for magic gets out of rhytm.
xXxRiPHammyxXx as much as i like amir, those number are deceiving….when amir came in, the game has already been decided. amir and the rest of the zoo crew played with no pressure and no worries….would’ve he played the same way in a middle of the game or/and in the first half? maybe, maybe not. it’ll be interesting to see the match up with orlando given the fact that somebody has to step in for dyess’ defensive effort….i wouldn’t be surprise to see minutes from ratliff, amir and to suit up hermann. orlando’s turkgolu will be assigned to prince but hayes and afflalo wouldn’t be an ideal back up which is why hermann maybe suit up….lewis can be handled by wallace but maxies speed wouldn’t be enough, where hermann might come in.. or also maxies height for howard wouldn’t be good either….and last, only sheed can guard howard and the ideal back up would be ratliff, man-to-man in the paint.
I can’t wait, I watch Detroit 2 times a year live down here in FL, theres nothing like hearing “Dee-troit Bask-et-Ballll” Throughout the Amway arena after a game!!!
nat, i read the delusional fan
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=8522
jesus christ!!!! i can’t believe it, the longer i read it, the more i started to laugh…i first started to just grin..smile and then just started cracking up!!!! its so freaking hilarious…..if u want to get a good laugh, u need to read this!!!!!
that was an all around great game by Detroit. Lets hope we can takle this momentum into Saturday night. I really want the Pistons to come out rolling and not wait until Orlando wins a couple of games to start playing there hardest. Remember the sweep was last year this year is totally different.
By the way, I found Amir’s two dunks that were partially blocked and still went in were funny.
GO PISTONS!!!
Ric, I started laughing once I read, “No, no, no they’ll be facing a Magic team that is younger, faster, and stronger; they also have a score to settle.” This was great too, “The team is a year older and a year better. Each of the Magic’s core players has made major improvements.” Yeah, real intimidating. Like some of the other comments, I’m less scared of Detroit playing Orlando than I was with Philly.
i know amber, its hilarious…hey guys i just read keith langlois blog/article about magic/pistons preview on nba.com/pistons. in the section Max-effect matchup, it seems to me that amir would be a better candidate on stopping rashard lewis…what u guys think? read the article first and decide from there what u think.
Very impressive win. The Pistons came to show the world who the better team was and they did just that. If we carry this ball hawking, shot dropping, Sixer eating, 5 vs 1 type play to Orlando, the Magic will not stand a chance. Orlando fans are praying the inconsistent Detroit team shows up.
That blogger who wrote about Orlando beating detroit (the one Natalie posted on the game recap) had it all wrong you see. He wrote how Orlando will beat Detroit because of they’re inconsistency problems and “age.” Has he watched the last two games vs Philly where Detroit dominated a young, fast team by 20 or more? What he failed to write about was whether Orlando was capable of beating Detroit when they’re at they’re best, playing Detroit basketball. He and the rest of the world knows they can’t. You can make a sure bet he’s hoping inconsistent Detroit shows up, for if they carry over how they’re playing now, watch out Orlando.
-Nate
I love that COMIC COVER – Superman vs Motown – lol
woop woop
WOW.
ATL forces a game seven, Celtics are in an elimination game. These playoffs have been nuts.
Atlanta is showing so much heart and fire right now. You can’t help it but root for them.
Don’t back down, Atlanta.
And to think, the Pistons were supposed to be the lethargic and complacent team that doesn’t respect their opponent…tsk tsk
haha i rem when people were suggesting after 3 games that detroit could hnever win cuz they dont take care of business like the celtics do…………..
Bring on the magic. Were clickin on all cylinders now. Were the best in the east (possibly the league) and we’ll show it on saturday.
GO HAWKS!
I liked the fact that the Pistons seem to be back in their “Let’s Go To Work” mood again… They took Philly for granted and they went to six. I think between Flip’s adjustments and McDiggity’s passion, those guys are totally fired up and they’re ready to give some Kryptonite to “Superman.”
Now about the Celtics…
There’s something that people seem to have forgotten in the middle of the ESPN/Gatorade hoopla: Pierce, Allen, and Gsrnett are NOT PLAYOFF TESTED. They’ve proven to be monsters during the regular season and All-Stars. But their track record in the playoffs is rather suspect. None of them has made it to the FINALS, Garnett has barely made it ONCE to the Eastern Conference Finals. That lack of experience shows. A battle-tested team would do what Detroit did, even what Cleveland did: WIN GAME SIX, period! Boston’s big three, once all is said and done, are no match for DETROIT’s BIG FOUR!!!!!
GUARAN’SHEED!!!!!
fuck yeah atlanta if the celtics get knocked out “dont count on it” the pistons will face the lakers in the finals or hopefully the hornets who we killed this season!! ATL HOE!
Raul, that’s what I’ve been saying about the Magic. Yes, this is a much improved Orlando team, but they too, are not playoff tested.
Wow, that “Delusional Magic fan” article was really something else. I admire the magic; they are a complete team, but that article was way over the top. I’m glad thay Natalie is more objective than that, because those are the kinds of people who eat their words. Saying the Pistons “have a great basketball organization” then going on to say there’s nothing special about them, they’re old, and that the Magic will run right through them is just ignorant.
+”Special teams win multiple titles”- How many titles have the magic one recently?
+How is there nothing special about a complete team that feeds off one another, cares about one another and helps one another?
+How does saying that Jameer Nelson is “giving a great effort on the Defensive end” justify that fact that Chauncey consistantly abuses him?
+How can you bring up Howard averaging 3.8 blocks a game while the only thing you say about Rasheed is that he “will still get a technical foul at any given moment”? Did they miss the first 5 games in the 1st series, in which Rasheed averaged 4 blocks a game?
Like I said, I think Orlando has an excellent team, but if this is the veiwpoint that team has about our team, then they’re the ones who aren’t giving their opponent enough respect.
I dont know. I’m not looking forward to playing Lebron.
But the Celtics ARE a fraud and its hilarious seeing that fan-base self-destruct.
The Atlanta Hawks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
How bout dem hawks Natalie??
Pistons Rule
GO HAWKS….great fight in them. I don’t think they can pull it off in Boston but I am sure this has shaken up Bostons’ confidence.
Did you see Peirce pouting on the floor at the end? Classic
I loveeee the Hawks right now! I’ll admit….I would rather not face Boston.
So I really am hoping Atlanta pulls out the biggest upset!
Also, this shows how important home court advantage is. Atlanta has won everytime at their homeplace, and same with boston. I’m eager to take the Cavs over the Celtics, 100%.
And Natalie, hell yea, that really changed what Boston thought were the “playoffs”. They are feeling pretty crappy about themselves right about now. This should of been a 4 game series. I’m sure their tired!
GO PISTONS!
I have mixed feelings about the Celtics.
First of all, I don’t think the fan base folding is funny, because I saw the same thing happen here about game 1 and 3. Fans need to be with their team through thick and thin.
Second, and more selfishly, if the Pistons win another championship, without going through Boston, people will say that they didn’t deserve it, that it was a fluke etc… Been hearing it for years about 04. Pistons only won because the Lakers fell apart, Pistons only won because Boston got beat by ATL. No credit to the fact that Detroit has one of the top 3 teams in the NBA in this decade, no doubt.
But tonight, the focus is on Orlando. Bring the Magic down, tonights the night. Come out focused, team and fans. No quarter given to the tame, I mean team, from Florida.