Stunned at The Palace
It's a series Pistons fans. Just when you thought Detroit would roll over The Philly en rout to round two, the Sixers stunned Detroit with a 90-86 win over Detroit to take the series lead 1-0. Despite a huge game from Rasheed Wallace, the Sixers took out Detroit after being down 15 to steal game one in Detroit and take over home court advantage.
Key Points:
Key Points:
- The Pistons shot just 29% in the second half of the game.
- Chauncey and Rip shot just 10-for-30.
- Physical game, credit the refs for being consistent on both ends.
- We know the Pistons have a tendency to need a shot in the arm to wake up. This wake up call came earlier than anticipated. We'll know if it's a good thing come Wednesday.
- You know I love Sheed's comedy stylings, but nothing was funny about him joining the Sixers huddle before the final play of the game. It's one thing if you're up and do it to intimidate the other team, but in the playoffs when the game on the line it is not SHEEDtastic.
- Where the hell was Dyess in the second half? I know Maxiell was a monster, but 20 minutes for Dyess all night is questionable. It's not like he put up a stinker in the first half either. Same goes for Thad Young for the Sixers, he was killing us in the first quarter but I can't remember even seeing him in the second half.
- Sheed was the player of the game with 24 points, 9 boards and 7 blocked shots, tying a Pistons playoff record. He started the game off strong, got a tech and then caught fire on both ends.
Photo/Getty Images
- Tell me why Flip Saunders left the Stuckey and Co. out there in the fourth quarter so late? As I watched Detroit's lead slip I wondered where Rip and Chauncey were.
- If this is the playoff rotation from here on out can we be happy with it?
- Sixers played a great game, take nothing away from them. I personally think Reggie Evans off the bench was the difference maker. He made clutch free throws down to the wire, grabbed 14 boards and bothered every shot he was near.
- Let me just say that The Palace crowd was loud and proud until the buzzer sounded. I won't get into what I heard walking out.
- Willie Green loves to play in Detroit.
- "We're gonna be all right, man," Billups said after the loss. And you want to believe him. This can’t happen again." Via The Detroit Free Press. I hope so Chauncey.
- The Pistons missed 12 of their last 15 shots.
- Bad things happen when Rasheed tosses the headband. As soon as I saw him out there headbandless, I cringed.
Photo/Getty Images
- Theo did a heck of a job in his 5 minutes. Rattler had 2 points, 2 boards and 2 ridiculous blocks.
- Detroit didn't take care of the ball, almost all of their 12 turnovers were head shakers.
- Detroit has to work on their ball movement in Game Two.
- Sheed took responsibility for the loss after the game. "That last bunny that I missed." Wallace said. "That was a damn-sure bucket I should have made." Via The Detroit Free Press
- NBA.com Highlights of the Game.
- Rip had a hard time all night, he went 5-for-17 for 13 points and 4 turnovers.
- I wanted to know what Pistons team was going to come out for the playoffs and unfortunately I was disappointed. Philly played hard and they are no pushovers, but to give up a 15 point lead at home is not what a team on a mission does.
- Nothing much from Rodney Stuckey 13 minutes, 0-for-1 with 3 assists.
- Jason Maxiell was fantastic, as always he was everywhere on the floor. The charge he took late in the game to give The Pistons a chance to take the lead was huge. Maxie put up a double - double with 12 points and 11 boards along with a steal, a block and a assist in 29 minutes. This putback brought the house down.
Photo/Getty Images
- It's a little too premature to compare this loss with the demise of Dallas in last years playoffs.
- It's not fun driving home from a Detroit loss in the playoffs, but I'm not hitting the panic button just yet. Not to diminish anything The Sixers did by winning Game One, but Detroit it capable of winning the next four. It's just too bad Detroit gave the Sixers some swagger to start the series off.
- I would like Mr. Big Shot back.
- Rebound war lost 45-43.
- The Sixers can run, and they do it well. I would like to see Detroit play their game on Wednesday.
- Vent, go ahead. I have been doing it all morning long.
posted by Natalie Sitto at 1:01 AM link to this post
44 Comments:
Chauncey Billups shoots better than a 90% free throw, yet has seemed to miss more big free throws this year than ever. SHEED cannot be joking around during playoff games and expect to have people convinced that he is focused on a championship. You'd think that these guys would take this playoff run more seriously. Even if they pulled this one out, this was another half-ass effort, unfocused performance by the pistons. Not a good start to their championship "run".
The Pistons need to humble themselves, and quite simply just start WORKING harder. These guys should be playing with a chip on their shoulders, because everybody now expects underachieving play. Maybe the Pistons expect that now too?
Natalie,
Great summary. I ADORE the picture with Rasheed in the air. As I spoke with numerous Pistons fans, I found it hard to explain how in the hell we lost this game. Sure we didn't play "Detroit Basketball" at any point, but letting our 15 point lead get away was painful. I blamed it on everything from our arrogance, to Flip's rotations, to me giving Flip credit for helping us win more games at home, to Rip/Chaunc/Tay and Dice not having a good game-- many different reasons. Nevertheless, I think lilhadler explained our loss perfectly. I was very concerned at first with the loss, considering how we played, but hopefully we'll play with actual urgency next game, and we'll be able to forget about this loss quickly.
Yeah, what was up with Chauncey's three huge missed free throws in the 4th? Does it have to be a "big shot" for him to make it? And we're the only game 1 upset, even with all the close match-ups in the west??? And to a losing team, no less! Detroit got outplayed. After tonight's game, I'm not even sure if the Pistons will get out of this series, much less Orlando, Cleveland, or Boston. A sad day... If I wasn't still stunned from the Suns-Spurs game Saturday, I'd be even more upset.
The only good thing about this game is that we know that this is not the regular Pistons. How often does Chauncey miss 3 of 4 free throws in the last minuets?
I can bet that the Pistons will come out wih more intensity and Sheed even more determined on Wednesday. I think the Pistons now know that the Sixers are for real and the Pistons will now respect them.
Well, we all pretty much agreed that the Sixers can take a game from the Pistons, but I just never expected it to be game 1 in freaking Detroit, man. If anything, I thought it'd be game 3 in Philly or something T_T
Oh well, all talk at this point is useless. We just have to wait and see where this series goes. I'm gonna try to keep my head up.
Dammit, Pistons, just play as if the lives of millions of infants depend on your victory already!
Here's hoping the Pistons post season turns out like the Spurs' post seasons in 2005 and 2007, both of which started with a loss and ended with a championship.
I was okay with 'Sheed messing around at the end of the game. I'd rather him have fun than get angry. Frankly, it was a 4 point game with less than one shot clock left. Even if he would have made that last 2 pointer, it still would have probably been a 3-4 point game with even less time on the clock.
I'm not going to sweat bullets over this loss. Some things happned that you can't expect to happen all the time. Chaucey misses 3/4 FT's down the strech, which are usually money, and Reggie Evans didn't seem to miss down the line, which is usually just the opposite. That factor alone would turn this game around, but like I said, it's not time to panic. I would like to see some AMIR Wednesday though.
No. We were only down by two when he was joking around in their huddle. Then when he missed the layup Andre got the rebound and was fouled, made both free throws, and they went on to win by 4.
Where the hell was Dyess in the second half? I know Maxiell was a monster, but 20 minutes for Dyess all night is questionable. It's not like he put up a stinker in the first half either.
Dyess was terrible in the 3rd, he played the first 8 minutes with 2 TO's which lead to 4 philly points, a missed layup, missed jumper, missed free throw, and a loose ball foul. I actually thought they should have brought in Max sooner.
We had nothing from Dyess as usual. Hamilton has to step up as well, last 2 years he had very very bad post season games. If this two guys does not contribute better to play longer Theo and Stuck!
Maybe I wasn't paying too much attention to what Dyess did in the third and I'm not saying I didn't appreciate what Maxiell was doing, hell he was a difference maker. I just worry about changing a winning formula especially during the playoffs.
If we are going to judge Antonio solely on this game then what about Chauncey and Rip?
they dont care about winning they say oh well fuck it were the pistons it will be handed to us, i wasnt suprised they blew the game buncha chokers with a horrible coach.. o well if they lose 2 its over for sure,
CONGRATS PISTONS ON TURNING WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A 5 GAME SERIES INTO A POSSIBLE 7 GAME SERIES!!!!
God Damn how do we blow a 15 point lead AT HOME!?! I really hope this is a damn eye opener for us!! Maybe now we realize that just because we won one championship in 04 that we aren't special and deserve every call!!! I hope Sheed comes out even more pumped in game 2.
What I still can't figure out; and Reggie said it on TNT, why did Flip take Tay out of the game in the 4th yet leave Theo in. It was obvious that Tay was the only one doing anything. And Tay wasn't happy about it either. In a way I must say I hope we lose this series just so the pistons realize that they HAVE TO STOP PLAYING DOWN TO THE OTHER TEAMS LEVEL. Don't get me wrong Philly played one hell of a game last night and they deserved that win for the way they played, but I am still really pissed off that we blew a 15 point lead at home!!!
If we don't win game 2 I really think this is over, if we are lucky we might pull out a win on the road. But now we must win game 2 and either game 3 or 4. Let's hope it can be done and we don't play down to the other teams level again!
yes at this point all we could really do is wait. for sure, rip needs to get his rhytm back, very unusual from chaunce to miss on the free throws, but i was more concern on him taking the shot instead of dishing it to tay during 26sec. he was wide open on the free throw. i would have to agree that our boys showed a little overconfidence. i think its time joe d to have a little talk with them again....unless he already did before the playoffs started, did he nat? he needs to remind these guys the urgency that we should be playing for. im confident that were going to win at least 2 games in philly ONLY if we win game 2 at the palace.
guys, who was guarding andre miller? was it just rip the whole time? i would love to see afflalo and hunter guard him. again, chaunce' defense was pretty weak, hamilton's offense was weak which gave miller better opportunities in the 2nd half. the story of this game is pretty easy, no more no less. PISTONS BACKCOURT COULDN'T HANDLE SIXERS'
Natalie, this game actually made me threw up my food. I can’t believe it. To give one away in our own building is ridiculous. I had my Sheed jersey on proud but didn’t feel proud when he was laughing and joking around with players on the Sixers. This is NOT a game in the regular season. I hope this is a wake up call for them.
ok Pistons Fans enough of that now that i had sleep after that terrible loss (although i enjoyed Sheeds great game untill the 4th started) we should keep our heads up and support our Team cause we all know we are better than that and if Sheed comes out again like this no way Chauncey and Rip and Dyess gone have a bad game like that again!!
Go Pistons
it's game one people. rip didn't play well, chauncey didn't play well. the stuckey/hunter line up worked in the 1st half, and then flip left them in for too long in the 2nd half w/ them doing nothing. sheed didn't do much in the second half (thanks in part, i'm sure, to whatever caused him to toss his headband). prince was taken out when he was (at least) making a few shots, while the rest of the team could not score. on the other side philly played a crap first half, missing everything, like we did in the second...(maybe it was that rim?) then they made clutch shots, clutch free throws (which they missed in the 1st). the difference was a few free throws and some seriously easy missed lay ups. but it shouldn't have come down to that, with a 15 pt. lead in the 3rd. the pistons just napped for too long this time. not to mention, we've been having clutch 4th quarters all season and this was completely uncharacteristic. don't sweat game one of a seven game series. and no, game 2 is not a must win. don't buy into the sports media hype that it would be.
There is nothing to worry about here with the Pistons. The last two times D-Town went to the the NBA finals who did they beat? The sixers and did they sweep them either time? NO. The Pistons have nothing to worry about, they just need to come out and play DETROIT BASKETBALL
I do not feel that Sheed's joking in the huddle was a big deal, but I can understand those who do. It is the playoffs and he should not be in the other teams huddle with 11 seconds remaining, but I do not think it caused him to miss the shot.What happens is that sheed is such a polarizing figure that even when he played a great game, negativity follows. The last thing we should be talking about is sheed. However, the bigger problem in the poor play of chauncey during the past 2 years in the playoffs. In the papers today, billups said that he was out of sync because they tried to focus on sheed and dyess. Sheed and dyess are a part of the team. I do not feel anything was done out of the team concept to get sheed and dyess going. billups is trying to coverup his poor play and it is not working. Miller lived in the paint and when he was not scoring he was creating. CHauncy and rip must step it up or we will lose in four to philly.
I know that this is the 1st game of the series and the Pistons are not out of this race, but if the Pistons are going to act like the don't want to win, I would rather they not show up. The stupid stunt that Rasheed pulled was a reflection of the whole team and it looked very unprofessional. I rather not watch the game or not go to the game if this kind of ridiculous sportsmanship continues.
anybody doesn't want their tickets? give it to me.
Someone needs to smack Rip Hamilton. He's not a playmaker, he's not a ballhandler, he's a shooter. if i see him give up the pop and shoot one more time so he can dribble around, waste time, and eventually lose the ball or put up a bad shot, i'll scream. why is it that occasionally rip forgets what his game is?
lindsey is all the things that lindsey is, but i don't remember him playing in the last two years without getting tons of fouls called on him for hand checking. if he can't stay in front of people without fouling then it's time for Afflalo to take his spot.
we can't push maxy too much. more theo would have been fine, or even some amir, he's good against running teams.
if rip had just taken the shots he's supposed to and chauncey made the free throws he's supposed to we would have won. we had too many chances to win or extend that game, if we don't have players that can take advantage of those opportunities then why are we wasting our time?
Reasons For the lost
1. Chauncey needs to wake up
2. Rip needs to do the same as chauncey, maybe even more. Remember Rip is our leader in points per game average. However recently he seems to be sleeping.
3.Rasheed had a brilliant game but in the end he messed up by losing focus,playing around with the 76ers and chatting with Pistons outcast Ronald Flip Murray. He needs to stay focused for the entire game.
4. McDyess needs to become more involved.
5.Flip saunders needs to know when to take off the bench
bigal2588, everybody needs to wake up from the time of the tip off. pistons were sleeping in the very beginning of the game..they had to let philly score 4-6pts. again, in the beginning of the 2nd half, they were sleeping again that made philly have a 6-0 or 8-0 run. pistons chances of winning a game when they execute properly in the very beginning of the game is almost guarantee.
Maybe Natalie doesnt want to mention this, but at the end of the game, the fans booed the home team. I had never heard that before.I dont attend very often. I would never boo them, but I sure felt like it.
i thought about what sheed did in this game. performace wise he did a pretty good job. i kinda' understand why people were complaining about how he was joking around too much. i guess its ok that he did that, only because he had a good performance, but i prefer the sheed who just say hello to everyone in the opposing team right before the tip off and once that ball goes up, i want him to have a "I DON'T GIVE A #&@% ABOUT U" attitude.
We're still going to win this series and everyone knows it.
We should still get through rounds one and two in 5, 6 games at the most. The Sixers displayed the Pistons nagging weakness last night, which is inconsistency. Teams with a chip on their shoulder don't play that inconsistent, so I'm not buying that line from the Pistons anymore. Without a doubt, I believe they are the most solid TEAM in the NBA, up there with the Spurs. Their team mentality however has been killing them in the playoffs the last two years, and we're seeing it now in game 1 already. NO team is superior enough to beat any other nba team by playing only 24 minutes of quality ball.
Chauncey has said multiple times that they are the best starting five in the NBA. Then by God play like it...for 48 minutes.
Go Pistons.
-Nate
damn it i can't til wednesday!!!
I was the game and for some reason I was not to into it, I remember thinking during the third the score was 47 to 61 I think that the pistons should hold the sixers under 70 or at least under 80 and then the next thing I knew it was a close game we were still at 60 something they were with in one I think not sure where it went but wow it went and detroit could hit a shot. The palace was so load yet it didn't seem like the players were trying I mean chancey missed 3 foul shots out of 4 that would have chagned the course of the game big time. One question that I asked myeslf was why did flip take out hayes and but tay back in we were up and philly didn't go on a run I mean I am not a hayes fan however let the starters rest if the bench is not messing up, I also feel maybe aaron could have brought a litle more than hunter, hunter just looked tired and out of it out there. Well I really hope this is a wake up call becuase if they play the same way they did lastnight we are in for a long one... I also agree with you Nat dycess should have played more, its like flip is trying to fit things together but its the playoffs and what we did in the reg season worked so get back to playing that basketball. I knwo the playoffs are different but playing around with routations is what make you lose because guys have to adjust. Well heres to a better game wednesday
Everybody knows if your going to steal a game at home the first one is always the easiest. THis is a kick in the ass for the Pistons and I think it'll actually help us in the long run.
Agreed Dominic.
Natalie it says that the pistons are not playing on TV is this true please answer us back and let us know please!!!!
Wednesday's game is on NBATV at 7:30pm. Let's just hope that really was the kick in the ass they needed to play the way they should be playing. I wouldn't be too disappointed if we didn't win a championship as long as we lose to a better team. I am not sure I can take it if Detroit allows another inferior team take them out of this like they did the last 2 years.
LET'S GO PISTONS!
^^
Ok, never mind I WILL be really disappointed if we don't win a championship... I will be devastated if we keep letting worse teams go to the finals by beating ourselves.
dozer, pistons game 2 will only be available through nba tv or local michigan channel. if ur out of state, like me, its either u order it through ur cable company or if u have cable or satelite hd tv, u should have mojo hd channel, which televises some of the nba tv.
http://www.mojohd.com/schedule/index.jsf
otherwise, the only way u could get it for free is to listen to nba.com
The fans booed the team after the game? Wow. I usually hate when fans do that, but I can't say that I blame them. I picked the Pistons in six for this series, I was just disturbed that one of those losses came straight out the gate.
Rasheed joining the Sixers huddle and joking around with those guys doesn't sound like a big deal, but it sends a message. It seems an indicator of his lack of focus; to the other team, it's showing them we're not taking them seriously; and to the home crowd and your team it's like you're not taking your team seriously either.
I say take a cue from the Bad Boys who, other than trash talking, woudln't acknowledge anybody on the opposing team until the series was over. [And sometimes they didn't even acknowledge them after it was over. lol] I sort of like that way of thinking because it forces you to focus on yourself. When reporters ask, be brief and turn the attention back to yourself and that's that.
No acknowleding the other team. Forget them. There's a war to be won, and you shouldn't be fratenzing with the enemy. It's just distracting. Don't listen to the press. Don't even listen to the nice [or even nasty] things the other team is saying about you. Block it out and focus on the bigger picture and what you need to do to get there. Games are not won by worrying about what's going on around you. Get right with yourselves and DO THE DAMN THING.
Go Pistons!
I really hope that Flip learned his lesson last night (and that would be to play Amir)! I really feel that Flip is too soft on this team, that was the great thing about LB, he knew what this team could do and wouldn't expect anything less than that from them every game. Flip is too soft on them and lets them get away with playing 24 quality minutes of basketball.
There are so many things to say about last nights game.
1. Why did he take Tay out in the 4th when he was the only one hitting? I understand he might have been tired, but if you watched he was mad at Flip for taking him out (Reggie said that he was talking to Flip the whole way to the bench because he was mad)
2. RIP!! If RIP had hit about his usual 48% I have enough faith to say we would have won this game. RIP only shot 29% if he had hit 8/17 we would have won, if "Mr. Big Shot hit just 2 of his 3 missed free throws. I realize that Sheed was trying to take the blame off of the guards by saying it was his fault for missing that bunny, but seriously RIP and Chauncey need to step up and admit they were the ones at fault behind this game, I also realize that they were trying to get it inside to Sheed because he was playing great but still they should have stepped up when it mattered the most!
3. I really hope this will be the kick in the a$$ that we needed to get us started and ready to go. Maybe now we will realize that we aren't some all mighty basketball team that everyone is supposed to roll over and play dead for, because we aren't!!!!
OH and about the booing, I feel that they deserved it after they way they played down the stretch!
LET'S HOPE GAME 2 HOLDS SOMETHING DIFFERENT FOR US!!!
GO PISTONS!!!!!!!
Charles Barkley just summed it up perfectly on TNT ... he said the celtics mentality was "we're gonna kill you Hawks" but the pistons mentality was "we can beat the sixers at the end" .. and then he said UH OH, UH OH.
Maybe we should change our mentality to "we're gonna kill you sixers." and then let's kick their asses by 30 on wednesday like we're supposed to.
Im going to have to say I agree with most of you. It's one game and for not one minute do I think Detroit will lose this series.
Disappointing Yes, a trend? Let's hope not. I thought this game would dictate how The Piston were going to go start the playoff and that's what I'm not happy about.
Prove me wrong boys and all will be forgiven.
And yes there were plenty of boos from the crowd, sad I know. It wasn't me I just wouldn't do that. I will say the Playoffs bring out the bandwagoners but after the collapse I can understand some of the fans frustrations. I get to see a ton of games and if I am one of the Pistons faithful that got to see them for the first time on Sunday I would be pissed.
I will say there was no need for the DEEEEETROIT sucks at Basssssketball chant...not cool
The Pistons can´t be cut any slack over this. Lack of effort in your first playoff game is a serious issue. The Zoo Crew has shined by their commitment. The core... Are they content with being incredibly-talented, seriously-awesome, perennial underachievers? The starting five has to prove me wrong.
And they sure can, and I hope they will.
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