First Lead of the Series - Pistons Up 3-2

The Detroit Pistons came out with fire at home against the Sixers from the tip and didn't stop scalding them until the final buzzer sounded. Detroit took their first lead of the series with their resounding 98-81 victory in Game Five. The Pistons are now just one win away from moving on the the next round, but it won’t be easy against a gritty Sixers team who has surprised everyone but themselves.

Key Points:

• There was a moment of silence before the game for basketball legend Will Robinson. Detroit will wear a black patch on their uniforms for the remainder of the season in his memory. He will be missed.
• You could actually see from their faces before the game started that the Pistons came to work.
• Jason Maxiell again started in place of the broken beaked Antonio McDyess. The Palace crowd gave him a huge thank you during the pre-game intros.
• Detroit shot a gaudy 58.1% for the game.
• New and improved Sheed dance? You be the judge.
• In case you were wondering, The Palace crowd was just as hot as the Pistons were.
• Sheed was hitting early and often but it was his 6 blocks on the night that lit up the gym. RA scored 19 points, grabbed 6 boards and had a steal and 3 assists. The Sixers are going to have to play a lot bigger to stop Sheed.

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• Best assist I have seen in a while was this outlet pass from Sheed, who saw a streaking Tay bolt down the floor after a Sixers hoop. I don't know how it looked on television, but I could see the whole thing unfold before it happened. I was on my feet before Tay even put the ball in the hoop.
• Arron Afflalo got 18 meaningful minutes and did a heck of a job during every single one of them. He played great defense and hit the open jumpers every time he had the chance. He finished with 3 steals and 4 points. Solid night from the rookie who surprisingly took the place of Jarvis Hayes off the bench. Whether it lasts remains to be seen.
• Rodney Stuckey seemed a bit more comfortable on the floor for the first time this post season. Stuck played 14 minutes and scored 6 points on 3 for 5 shooting with 4 assists and 3 boards.
• Credit Flip Saunders who pulled Stuckey when in less than 30 seconds he turned the ball over and then committed a quick foul. In came Billups in a hurry.
• Mr. Big Shot is back, he truly lived up to his nickname for the first time this series. Chauncey led the Pistons with a double-double, putting up 21 points, with 12 assists and 2 boards. I appreciated the fact that Tayshaun Price played a bit at the point position so Chauncey could stay hot with his shot.

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• I arrived to the game a litter earlier than usual so I was in my seat when Samuel Dalembert stepped out for warm ups with his new Mohawk. A few minutes after the Sixers took the court out came The Pistons. When Sheed got a look at Dalembert he gathered up a few (I think Billups, Hunter not sure of the rest) pointed to Sam and started cracking up and didn't stop for quite some time. I know I thought it was amusing, but Sheed took it to another level. Apparently he made mention of Dalembert's new hair to The Sixers coach Mo Cheeks.

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• Philadelphia's Samuel Dalembert said Green's barber in Detroit gave him the mohawk he was sporting, complete with "LJ" and "SD" shaved into both sides of his head. "The SD is for strong defense," he said. “The LJ is for a loved one.” Reggie Evans seemed to pity his teammate. "Willie, that's your fault," Evans said. “He’s going to be on the bloopers." Wallace agreed. "I told Mo that should've been a team fine to come here like that," Wallace said." Via Yahoo.com
• Louis Williams had another great night for the Sixers with 16 points. I'm glad to see him doing well. I remember following him a little when he was in high school with all the hype surrounding him and thought he may have done better had he went to college instead of heading to the NBA. It didn't help that he played behind AI for so long, not getting much time on court. Good for him, he's been big.
• Andre Iguodala finally found his offensive game leading the Sixers with 21 points. He was on, but the rest of his team was way off. Did anyone notice the his stare down of the crowd after his dunk in the fourth quarter? Yeah it was nice Andre, but you only do that when you aren't getting blown out, it's not like you've done anything this whole series anyways....you just looked silly.
• I got a pre-game kiss (on the cheek of course) from George Blaha.
  
• Again with the hecklers and Mo Cheeks. "I'll be back," Philadelphia coach Maurice Cheeks said to hecklers as the final seconds ticked off the clock. "I know you don't believe me." Via Yahoo.com
• Thank goodness Detroit's 50% from the line didn't hurt them in this one.
• Maxiell had the crowd standing on their feet for many occasions. Maxie finished the game with a career playoff high 11 boards with 6 points and 3 demeaning blocked shots. Doesn't Jason Smith know better by now? Maxie has stuffed him hard on at least 4 times now.
  

Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons and myTV20 Detroit

• So nice Maxiell we have to see the dunk again.
• Can we play like this for the remainder of the Playoffs please?
• Still have to work on the turnovers. Detroit had 17 but thankfully they forced the Sixers into 18 of their own.
• Very enjoyable game all around, especially after what game one and three did to Pistons fans.
  
• The Pistons led by as much as 26 points, the Sixers biggest lead was 2.
• 44 points in the paint for Detroit to the Sixers 34.
• All I have to say is that this had been Tayshaun's series and the Palace crowd made sure they let him know how much they appreciated him. Tay was more than solid again with 17 points on 8-for-14 shooting with 4 boards, 2 assists and a steal.

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• NBA.com Highlights from the game.
• The Pistons made 11 of their first 13 shots.
• Rip Hamilton put up 20 points with 5 boards, 2 assists and a steal in 33 minutes.
• Rip spent some of his time on the floor with Dyess, Afflalo, Stuckey, and Maxiell.
• "It was definitely business to handle, but we still had fun out there," Wallace said. "We still do our little side jokes or whatever. We've been in situations like this before. It's not a lot of pressure. Our booty holes aren't tight." Via MLive
• 34 boards for each side.
• "The series is not over until someone gets four wins. They'll zap our spirit when they get four wins. They haven't zapped it yet," Cheeks said. Via ESPN
• Detroit hopes to finish this off on Thursday in Philly to play a waiting Orlando.