Boston Regains Home-Court
You can forget the notion that The Boston Celtics can't win on the road. After suffering their first home loss of the playoffs in Game Two, the Celtics bounced back and did it with authority in their 94-80 victory at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Key Points:
Key Points:
- Boston took it to Detroit right from the start going on a 11-0 run to start the game.
- Forget the notion that this game hinged on referees whistles, or that it's Flip's fault. The Pistons decided to take it easy and play only when they needed to. Sad thing is, they needed to play 48 minutes and they showed up for less than 24.
- As quickly as Detroit gained home-court, they lost it. Series at 2-1 Bostons means a must win for The Pistons on Monday.
- Rodney Stuckey: "First of all, we can't let a team start out with two straight dunks. That gives them momentum right there. We didn't give no effort at all starting the game and that killed us. Trying to come back against a team like this is very difficult because they play really good defense as well. We just lost, point blank." Via The Detroit Free Press
- Bright spot for the Pistons, the play of rookie guard Rodney Stuckey. Chauncey laid an egg on Saturday while Stuckey took the reins when he was on court. Stuck scored 17 points, with 4 assists, 4 steals and a blocked shot. When Flip pulled him late in the game and put Billups back in the whole section I was in chanted for Stuckey. He returned about a minute later substituting for McDyess.
Photo/Getty Images
- This in an example of what the young man did all night.
- I could go on a rant about how the Pistons played last night, but unlike a lot of you I don't think this thing is over. If an team has a chance to come back after a stinker it's Detroit. Forget the bandwagoners true Pistons fans, though upset, understand. It's the sad truth about following this team, but we take the bad with the good. As for the people who booed our team at the game...I'm ashamed. I don't know what to say about that other than I expect that the Palace gets that certain type of crowd come playoff time and those boo's didn't represent the true fans that have been there all season and all their lives for that matter. To give you an example of what type of people were at the game here's one that may explain things.
- The two seats next to me were empty for the first couple of minutes of the game. Two 20 something young men game sit down but decided not to. They headed to the concession stands returning after the second quarter had started with beer in hand and a little attitude. While decked in Piston gear I never really heard them cheer for the team, but during a break in action The Palace had a Journey Karaoke song on for all to sing and they were as loud and obnoxious as can be. Never screamed D-Fence a single time and didn't cheer again until the Free Pizza giveaway came around. They left right after halftime and didn't return. I suspect if they were sitting in their seats when some of the people started to boo, they would have joined in. Does that help?
- Like I said before, White Outs are lame. And I'm not the only one who thinks so.
- Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince played miserable. They combined for 10 points, Billups going 1-for-6 and Tay 2-for-11.
- Richard Hamilton led Detroit with 26 points on 8-for-18 shooting and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the line. That was the quietest 26 points of Rip's career.
Photo/Getty Images
- Board war lost 44-28.
- 38% from the floor thanks to nice D from Boston.
- Credit the Celtics, they wanted it more and they took it to The Pistons. They were so pumped, their bench was on their feet after they scored the first 6 points and remained exited and supportive throughout.
- Nice run by Detroit in the fourth quarter, but it was to little too late.
- Bad things happen when Sheed tosses the headband. It usually ends up with a loss, I wish I had some statistics on that. Ra was 6-for-13 with 12 points, 8 boards, a steal and 3 blocked shots. I would have loved for Detroit to have tried to go to him down on the block, but they didn't even look like they were getting in offensive sets.
- Maxiell got some burn, which meant no Theo. A productive 17 minutes for Jason who scored 7 points on 3-for-5 shooting and 2 blocked shots. Add this one to Maxie's collection, KG stuffed.
Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons, The NBA, ESPN and ABC
- Boston's biggest lead was 24, Detroit led once by 2 when it was 17-15.
- Wow...7.7% from downtown.
- Flip Saunders on Rodney's performance.
- Amir Johnson 54 second sighting.
- Thanks has to go out to Team Need4Sheed member Abbas Husain (a talented graphic designer who gave me the most AWESOME T-Shirt before the Tip. I started the game in my lucky Red Sheed jersey, but put his awesome creation on top to see if things would change. Sadly nothing I was wearing last night could have helped our boys.
Illustration/Abbas Husain
- Antonio McDyess played hard all game but he had a hard time containing KG. Dyess even tossed the mask when things weren't going Detroit's way. He put up 8 points and 8 boards while letting his emotion show on is face the entire game.
- And another thing the WHITE OUT did, it made the Boston fans in the crowd stick out.
- Pistons, waisting talent and chances?
- At least The Wings and The Tigers dominated.
- Lindsey Hunter: "Our defense was horrible. It had nothing to do with a bad shooting night. I always say we can score to manufacture enough points. If we're not on point defensively like we were tonight ---I mean, you give up two dunks to begin the game and you tell me you're ready to play? We did that, so you know, this is exactly what happens when you do stuff like that. "I can't put into words how frustrating it is. My wife would probably be mad if I did." Via The Detroit Free Press
- When a rookie guard that only played a half of a season because of injury outplays a team of All-Stars it says 2 things. He has a hell of a future and Detroit won't reach the Finals this year if that continues.
Photo/Getty Images
- Like I said....Best part of the night.
- Monday is a whole new day.
- Rant all you wish in the comments, but please save the "blow this team up" and "it's over" reactions for another day. There is still work to be done.
Labels: Celtics, Eastern Conference Finals, Recap, Video
posted by Natalie Sitto at 11:36 AM link to this post
18 Comments:
the pistons did not com eout ready for this game you could see it in their faces during the intros. Tay how has been the man this fare played the way he did against boston in the regular season which i was afaird of he just can not play well against them most likey becuase he does not match up well against paul. I was think the white out had something to do with it, when boston went a head in the beinging of the game I said stake off the shirts why mess with something that works and all thoses white shirts just amde us look like any old fans and well we are not thoses fans. I was a little disapointed to hear the boos I know we should have won but when the team is down we need to get behind them to help give energey to win. well heres to game four five and six, i know the olds areagainst us winning but if anyone one can do it its the pistons.
Natalie, I really thought they "could" pull off a W during the 4th when they were down by 9 pts with 3 minutes but they couldn't stop Boston. It was truly an ugly game. I love being a fan but sometimes it is so frustrating especially because I'm from Berkeley, CA and have no affiliations with Detroit at all but feel this need to defend why I like them.
I respectfully disagree about real fans not booing. when you live in one of the most depressing places on the face of the earth, you scrape up the cash to see a big, big game and they play like crap (which they did, everyone except for stuckey and maxiell was asleep until it was too late) that is unacceptable.
this ain't l.a., i don't feel the need to blow sunshine up our player's rear ends to keep them happy. this is detroit. if you can't handle the pressure of this city, you get out, like almost everyone else has.
when the crowd started booing, van gundy or jackson said something about how that wasn't going to help the pistons any. so what? they're going to go down by more than 20? embarrass themselves more than they did on the first two plays of the game?
i love my team. I believed until the last minutes that they could pull it out. i believe they'll still win the series and a championship. i will praise them when they succeed. sympathize with them when the bounce doesn't go their way. and i'll boo them out of the building when they play like s#$%. and they did last night.
i think it's time to bring our millionaire point guard off the bench. sorry, but muscle strain or not, this is looking more and more like chauncey being chauncey.
lindsey hunter is so right, it has nothing to do with the crappy shooting, it was the defense....thats what i was telling a friend who watched the game with me for the first time, he kept pointing out the score in the half time, i told him i don't give a $%#@ about the score, i care about them playing defense...although i cannot guarantee i won't be upset and disappointed for the lose games, but i guarantee that ill be with the team for better or worse, win or lose...all the way to the end...heres a little something for everyone, NOW WHOS WITH ME!!!!?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=83-AzCdr1XY
KrMagley point taken, I just guess we see things differently. Just becuase I pay to go to the game doesn't mean I'm guaranteed a win. Yes they were down by 20 but I guess like Van Gundy said that booing won't help.
I would never boo a team that has given me so much joy throughout the years, I was upset and angry but at the end of the day we are all human, no matter how much money we have in the bank...
UYEN I thought they had a chance too and would like to thank you for being a left coast fan. Hopefully our boys will do right by you on Monday.
uyen, i know how u feel...im from socal.
well i guess there are two positives from the game:
1. Stuckey played great once again. He was unbelievable. If he keeps playing this well and the other Piston starters start playing like they should, Detroit can win this series.
2. Sheed didn't get a tech. YAYYYY! In a blowout like this he could have easily got a tech.
But regardless of how I feel I wholeheartedly believe that they will win this battle with Boston. And Natalie is right please don't post things such as "blow up this team and it's over" GO PISTONS!!!
by the way, being down 2-1 against boston shouldn't be something new....isn't it more understandable to be down 2-1 against boston, than philly? they been here before, now all they have to do is do the same.
Maybe I am the only one but I had a huge problem with KG only having 3 fouls after picking up 2 quick ones five minutes into the game!!! I really wish that we would have pounded the ball inside towards him to try to get fouls on him especially when we were down in the 3rd, I mean it wasn't going to hurt anything at that point it could only help!!! Really expecting at least a 10 point win tomorrow night, or at least I am hoping. I actually blame it on the Tigers since they have been playing like crap lately and then win one, it just helps me to feel better about it to blame it on the bad team of Detroit right now. But deep down I am glad the Tigers won and I know that this one was ours to lose!
i'm with khajatiger... the team played like strait up shit... me and my buddy almost payed 100 dollars for some tickets and i would have been absolutely pissed had i went... the booing is a result of the worst game we've seen from the pistons in a while... sheed is playing pretty bad all series chauncey had a good game but hurt us in the other two.. maybe some boos is what the team needs to realize that this is the end of them if they don't win the next game... i don't care if chauncey doesnt think that its not do or die until the elimination game because mondays game is absolutely do or die!
i can't wait til tomorrow!!!! i feel were ready to win that one!!!!
yup was a stinker... highlights were stuckey and maxiell's block... but id rather take the win
we'll bounce back tho
detroit and LA in the finals... ive called it since before the playoffs started
I think the rebounds are the most telling statistic. Especially Boston's offensive rebounds. But I don't think our player-to-player defense was as bad as some believe. Boston was shooting the lights out of the Palace. The only way to compete against a team when they're in the zone like that is to grab every single board to ensure they don't get another chance. We did not grab the boards. I know we shot like crap, but had we been hungrier for the rebounds, we still could have pulled this one out.
I did not like what Flip Saunders did last night, and although I like him, it's shape up or ship out, and I'm completely fine with that. With Larry Brown as coach, that game would have been ours, plain and simple. Flip seems to have an inability to make adjustments (or the right ones) when the team is struggling. Isn't that why we are so proud of having the deepest bench in the NBA? Where was Jarvis Hayes? He can get a hot streak from the perimeter in a second, and that is exactly what we needed in the 4th. What about Amir? Theo? Hell, put Walter in there. Keep trying things till you find something that works, cause the starters sure as hell weren't getting it done.
I don't agree with the booing. I think it's childish. Like the pouting kid who takes his basketball and goes home. If you feel the urge to boo, just leave, because you're sure as hell not going to help anyone by hanging around. And Natalie is right: just because you paid a lot of money for a seat, doesn't mean you are entitled to a win. Especially with the Pistons.
Anyway, I'm glad I was drinking because I wouldn't have been able to take that game sober. The feeling in my stomache is still a tad reminiscent of last year's game 5. I'm not saying it's over, but one more game like that, and I'll be ready to throw in the towell. This is the NBA playoffs, for crying out loud. Play ball, Detroit.
Nobody is entitled to a win. But when the effort just isn´t there, except from bench players, there is a problem. Besides, it´s not the first time this has happened, and in spite of the many times they have said "we´ll be fine", they keep on repeating the same mistakes. I´ll take the good, I´ll take the bad, but this was the ugly side of the Pistons.
That said, the situation is just the same as it was when the series started. The Pistons have to beat themselves for them to lose this series. If they come out focused for all the following games, they´ll win. They sure can!
Given what Stuckey is doing, with meh games from 2 starters and good games from the other 3, Detroit has the upper hand. What is needed from everyone is defense. This is Detroit, fellas.
yes...shooting can't be controlled 100%, there will be slump, off nights, out of sync whatever u call it!!!! but defense is something that pistons has complete control! isn't that what detroit is all about??? if we play d, our offense we'll come by itself. defense is the key to offense.
The one this good I took away from this game was how well maxiell and stuckey played. That block on KG was incredible. It reminded me of when Ben Wallace blocked Shaq a couple years ago in the playoffs. And I have to admit I had my doubts about stuckey earlier in the year but he's proving me wrong. I think we didn't see this earlier because he wasn't being asked to play this kind of role. I think we have a bright future to look forward to.
I found the rotation puzzling. I was watching at a bar without volume but when Stuckey came in with Billups and they pulled McDyess I was scratching my head. Maybe I missed the matchups, but regardless it didn't work.
Clearest thing to me other than the fact that Stuckey is playing with skill, courage and wisdom way beyond his rookie status is that Chauncey is HURT. Every time he goes in the paint he either turns the ball over, throws up a wild turkey or (worse) gets rejected. It's painful to watch because we know he's capable of so much more, and he goes in there it seems forgetting his limited current ability.
The Flip-bashing is senseless. Beyond what even I found as some questionable substituting, the reasons we lost were bad defense (except Maxiell) and horrible shooting (except Rip). I don't think that's Flip's fault, he doesn't wear a jersey.
Here's to a Happy Monday and a speedy healing process. I haven't given up at all, but we gotta win tonight.
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