Stuffed and Mounted: Pistons to the Eastern Conference Finals

The Pistons closed out The Bulls in Chicago to go to their fifth straight Eastern Conference Finals. It wasn't easy for Detroit, who played this one like they really wanted it, beating The Bulls on their home court 95-85. The game was close in the first half, with The Bulls leading at halftime, but the Pistons came out strong in the third quarter and kept control of the game no matter what The Bulls seemed to throw at them.

Key Points:

• Rasheed didn't need to make a GuaranSheed... His performance did it for him.
  
• Pistons put the D back in Defense in game six.
• Richard Hamilton was making ridiculous shots all night. Rip led the team with 23 points and was 5-for-5 from the line.
• Detroit played all 48 minutes of this one.
• Jason Maxiell made every second of his 7 minutes count. J Max is playing crucial playoff minutes and doing it well.
• Lindsey Hunter was a huge spark off the bench. He bothered The Bulls on D and knocked down some critical shots in the first half.
• I am not going to lie, even though the Pistons were playing Detroit Basketball from the opening tip, I was still a bit nervous.
• Hard fouls on both ends of the floor. Neither team was giving up easy baskets.
  
• Rip hit his first 5 shots from the floor.
  
• C-Web played 23 minutes and scored 5 points, his 9 rebounds were key. Though he didn't score much in this series, he was defiantly a plus when he was on the floor.
• I am not exaggerating when I say that this one was SHEEDtastic. Rasheed was key in this win. Sheed dominated, with 16 points and 13 rebounds along with 2 blocked shots. Mr. Wallace hasn't had this much fire in him in a very long time. His drive alone can win this team a championship.

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• The Bulls rode P. J. Brown in the first half, but the Pistons shut him down in the second. Brown scored a season high 20 points, all of which came in the first half.
• The Pistons held the Bulls to 37% shooting while they went 42% from the floor.
• Ben Wallace was a non factor with just 7 rebounds and six points. He sat most of the second half, finishing with just 28 minutes, the least among all of the Bulls starters.
• Chauncey Billups mentioned how quiet the United Center was after the game. If there's one benefit to closing out a series on the road, that's it. "In a strange sort of way it always feels better to close it out on the road," Billups said. "That silence, like church."
• On a very odd play late in the game, Antonio McDyess blocked a Nocioni three. As Nocioni was falling to the ground after the shot, he pulled Dice down by the shoulder and McDyess got called for a foul. Nocioni went to the line for three free throws. He made all three.
• The Pistons took control of the boards in the second half, outrebounding Chicago 14-7 in the third quarter and finishing with 48-35 edge.
• Chauncey finished the game with 21 points on 3-for-12 shooting with 7 assists and 2 steals. Chauncey was a perfect 14-14 from the free throw line.
  

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• Antonio McDyess seem to be everywhere at all times. Dice scored 5 points and pulled down 10 important rebounds.
• "We never talked about having a Game 7," Prince said. "We wanted to really make a statement with this game."
• Sheed hit a 3 pointer 30 seconds into the second half to start a 12-1 run.
• C-Webb had a sweet behind the back feed to Rip for a layup.
• The refs didn't see eye to eye with Sheed, he was called for a tech on a possession call that looked like it went off Hinrich. In fact it was called Detroit ball until a ref (Bennett Salvatore?) from across the floor reversed the call. Needless to say Sheed was upset. The refs also took away two crucial Sheed baskets, one was a putback jam that was taken away and called loose ball foul, the other was a traveling call.
• Its been a while since I have seen Tayshaun Prince this emotional during a game. He was pumped!
  
• Taysaun Prince was fantastic, especially in the fourth quarter, he was making everything. He was backing down Deng in the paint and hitting hooks right over him. He finished with 17 points and 9 rebounds.

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• Did you know that Tayshaun Price has gone to the Conference finals every single year he's been in the league. That's got to be some kind of record.
• Ben Wallace was on the bench in the closing minutes of the game. I wonder how he feels about that.
• Scott Skiles isn't happy and didn't have anything nice to say about Detroit. Poor sport.
• Referee Jack Nies actually went over to Flip Saunders and warned him he wasn't going to take anything from Sheed. That was before he was called for his 4th Tech of these playoffs.
• Pistons assistant coach Ron Harper said there actually was some bad blood being felt by the Pistons toward Kirk Hinrich and Andres Nocioni, even though there was still plenty of love for departed Piston Ben Wallace.
• When Ron Harper was asked "Who do the Pistons hate?" his answer, "Cleveland. We don't like Cleveland. That series is going to be fun." If they win.
• One of Rasheed's four assists was a bullet pass to Tayshaun in the Paint for a dunk.
• It was comforting to get to watch the game on local television and get to listen to Blaha call the game.
• Full Sheed Ahead: Great peice on Sheed by Michael Rosenberg of the Freep. "In the locker room after the clinching victory, Wallace took a rare break from his profanity-laced rap music and went with some disco: "Hot Stuff," by Donna Summer. And then Rasheed danced while Summer sang..."
• Everyone on the Pistons hustled for this win, they all played with heart.
• On to the Eastern Conference Finals!