Boston Takes Charge - Back To Detroit Down 3-2
Detroit rallied back from a double digit deficit in the third quarter to send Game Five of The Eastern Conference Finals to the wire. Detroit's fourth quarter surge unfortunately wasn't enough to take the game, after getting within one point with eight seconds left on the clock. The Celtics, now in control after their 102-106 victory, are just one win away from the NBA Finals.
Detroit has plenty of work to do on Friday.
Key Points:
Detroit has plenty of work to do on Friday.
Key Points:
- Things looked good for the Pistons right from the start, in fact a good sign early came from Rasheed, who knocked down his first three of the night early.
- Though loss for Pistons fans, but surprising finish to a Pistons team that looked cooked in the third quarter. Had Detroit played with half the defensive intensity in the third as they did in the fourth things would be very different.
- The Pistons almost came all the way back from a 17-point hole, that either says something about Boston, or Detroit. Probably both but I still like Detroit's chances even with their backs to the wall. Hell, don't they like it like that? It's that whole "If it ain't rough it ain't right" mentality. I personally would prefer to be up 3-2 right now.
- Plenty of things went Boston’s way, including a huge game from Kendrick Perkins who dominated the game for the Celtics early, grabbing boards from the opening tip. Perkins 18 point, 16 board game was clearly his best of the series. Weren't we all begging Detroit to give him a little taste of the old school Bad Boys?
- Boston looked timid down the stretch, even though Garnett had a huge game with 33 (best of this season's playoffs) he was passing up wide open shots. Scared to take the it KG?
- Rip was a little cool to start the game, but his jumpers were hitting the bottom with ease when it counted. Rip finished with 25 points and was one of the reasons Detroit got back in the game in the fourth. Hamilton scored nine straight points to start the fourth quarter. What we worry about...is his elbow injury that happened with second left in the game. I'm sure we'll get a complete update soon.
Photo/Getty Images
- "He got a little bit of, I think, hyperextended in there on the rebound on that one defensive sequence that we had," Saunders said. "He was great again tonight, especially in the last three quarters. Hopefully he's going to be ready to go for us." Via Yahoo.com
- Our recent hero Antonio McDyess didn't come up big in Game Five. Dyess got into early foul trouble and never seemed to be able to get going. We missed his boards last night after getting walloped on the glass 42-25. That just can't happen again.
- Dyess finished with just 4 points and 5 boards eventually fouling out mid fourth quarter. With the troubles he was having, he still gave 110% every second he was out there. Ice for Dyess I tell you!
- Sheed is clearly not happy. Is that a good thing?
- "That (bleep) ain't basketball out there," Wallace said. "It's all (bleeping) entertainment. You all should know that (bleep). It"s all (bleeping) entertainment." Via The Detroit Free Press
- I really did think Detroit was going to pull it off, especially after the HUGE three pointer by Stuckey late in the game. I actually felt bad for him after he made his last free throw when he was clearly supposed to miss it. He played well otherwise, 13 points, 2 steals and 3 assists. Glad to see Saunders didn't pull him when he was on a roll in the forth.
- Same goes for Lindsey Hunter who played his usual pesky D. "All decisions I make aren't popular with the media, players or whoever," Saunders said. "Lindsey did a great job for us and I wasn't going to hesitate to put him back in. But I thought we had some scattering offensive sequences and we needed to make sure we had a guy out there to run the show." Via The Detroit News
- 11 minutes for Maxiell who scored 6 points in a hurry and was an instant spark. What happened?
- Highlight of the game besides the near comeback, alley oop from Lindsey to Maxiell.
Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons, The NBA and ESPN
- The Pistons are in serious need of a big game from Prince. His lone highlight was the block he had that the ESPN announcers argued about for what seemed to be 10 minuets.
- Flagrant foul on P.J. Brown on Maxiell was borderline but you Peirce's foul on Billups later looked worse.
- Van Gundy is miserable, I'm going out on a limb saying he's neck and neck with Walton right now in by book. You have no idea how huge that is for me. Oh how I wish TNT had the rights to all NBA playoff games.
- It didn't look like Big Shot was back, but he showed up strong leading the Pistons with 26 points, 6 assists, a steal and 5 boards. Chauncey was a perfect 9-for-9 from the line. His shooting percentage wasn't great (7-for-17), but it was nice to see his shot go down.
Photo/Getty Images
- Keith Langlois - True Blue Pistons - "There are ample reasons for optimism that the Pistons can get this done – no matter that NBA history says 83 percent of the time the Game 5 winner of a 2-2 series prevails. Billups, for one. He looked better than good for much of Game 5 and seems to have pushed the hamstring strain out of his mind. "This is the best I've felt," he said."I felt really good in Game 2 before I tweaked it. This is the best I've felt, movement-wise and being able to explode and get that step by people and hopefully I continue to get better. I feel good about it."
- NBA.com Highlights of The Game.
- Allen got his grove back, for the night anyway. He finished with 29, none bigger than the three late in the game to pretty much seal Detroit's fate.
- 36 points in the paint for the Celtics, just 18 for Detroit. Where was that no layup attitude?
- Never did like Posey, his ridiculous mouthpiece makes me sick and so does his attitude. He's got to jaw with Rip when the game is on the line? Shows his character and his stupidity.
- How great was it to have Sheed and his three back? RA knocked down 6 treys on the game but one thing that bothers me is when his three is going down he doesn't play in the post. Sheed finished with 18 points on 6-for-12 shooting with 4 boards and 3 blocked shots. Foul trouble stopped him from adding to his best game of this series.
Photo/Getty Images
- For those of you counting, Sheed is a tech away from a suspension.
- The D was on point for 36 minutes..Boston still shot 50% on the night to Detroit's 46%.
- Pistons biggest lead - 8 points.
- No doubt in my mind that I will be confident walking into the Palace come Friday.
- If you're going to the game on Friday....Loud and Proud, they need us!
- "Our experience of being in so many of these situations will help us and being in front of our fans will help us," Billups said. "Those are the things you've got to lean on when you are facing elimination. We're going to scratch and claw and do the things we've been known to do and try and get back here (to Boston) for Game 7." Via The Detroit News
Labels: Celtics, Eastern Conference Finals, Game Videos, Recap
posted by Natalie Sitto at 2:33 AM link to this post
75 Comments:
Natalie,
You made a POO POO mistake.
You did the quote wrong.
Its "If it ain't rough than it ain't right" mentality.
:)
love ya! peace.
I sure hope Rasheed can contain a little of his emotion for the rest of the series - and into the finals. I love that he is so passionate about his job, but he has to keep in under control and not let his team and his fans down by getting suspended. He wouldn't be Rasheed if he wasn't emotional, but he has got to be professional. I thought Doc Rivers, Ray Allen, and someone else (I can't remember who it was) could have been T'd up too for emotions.
Van Gundy was really pissing me off when he wouldn't shut up about that flagrant on PJ Brown. He certainly did not appear to be making a play on the ball and he sure as heck did shove Maxiell. It was a little more than "a touch to the arm pit". He's an idiot anyway -- also you have to remember that the Pistons took his brother's team (the Magic) out of the playoffs again this year so he's probably a little bitter to begin with. The tackle on Chauncey by Pierce was complete b.s. and those a-holes were making a speech about what a good sport he was afterward... imagine if the shoe had been on the other foot. I don't think Chauncey thought it was very good sportsmanship. He looked kinda pissed when he got up. I'm just glad there wasn't a brawl after it happened. I bet Paul Pierce wouldn't have been that calm about it if someone had taken him down like that. Arrogant prick that he is.
Oh well. I still think the Pistons are destined for the finals and the trophy despite this loss. I thought they played pretty well. They just need to play defense for the entire game the way they did at the end of the 4th, grab (a lot) more rebounds, keep Rasheed from going off, and they should be just fine. No problem!
Fight the good fight. If it has to get down & dirty then so be it. I wouldn't mind seeing a little of the Bad Boys style... you just gotta make nice after the foul right? It's all good.
RA was right about the B.S. calls. His foul on Pierce when he double teamed him was a HUGE flop on Pierce's part. The tech call on Sheed later in the game had me talking to myself for 5 minutes. Ray Allen and Pierce did a ton more complaining and showing up the refs earlier on the bad call on Allen (traveling), but there was no call there. The refs semi-redeemed themselves later with the quick tech on Perkins. I am really puzzled where Prince has gone. He has disappeared so much on offense. He can't back Pierce down at all. I am still optimistic about this one too.
Go Pistons!
Because of their attitude, I like their chances this year better down 3 - 2 against Boston, than I did when they fell apart against Cleveland the last two years.
I'm really glad that Sheed and Smooth made their presence felt after having a relatively quiet series.
I have NO doubt that Detroit will win if these four things happen:
1)Rip's injury heals and he's able to play at 100%
2)Solid hustling from the bench guards Hunter and Stuckey
3)Proactive and level headed Billups and Sheed
4)A hunger and collective desire to win this game. Not to lose their heads when calls aren't going their way or when some things aren't going right. This series and season is too important and fragile to let things tear this team up. There is too much at stake. Like Dice said, leave it all out on the court and play like you will never get to play again. Sail out the storm and keep it rough, Pistons Style. Composure and poise (see Stuckey, Playoffs 2008)
Go Detroit !
By the way Nat - do you or does anybody out there have the clip of Sheed talking to Mike about his technical foul? I was laughing so hard when Sheed just stood there, stared at the ref for the longest time and shook his head.
Classic Sheed.
You can tell it's really upsetting him about the way the games are turning out and how they're on the brink of another good season gone bust. You could hear the helplessness in his voice when he was cussing the refs afterwards.. But props to Sheed for keeping a level head and keeping cool. We need you there Sheed! Nothing mocks the doubters more than playing your heart out, winning a 'ship and letting your game slap them in the face!
"All that bull (bleep) calls they had out there, with Mike (Callahan) and Kenny (Mauer) -- you've all seen that (bleep)," Wallace spewed afterwards. A lot of them phantom calls, cats are flopping and falling all over the floor and they're calling that (bleep). That (bleep) ain't basketball out there. It's all (bleeping) entertainment. You all should know that (bleep). It's all that (bleeping) entertainment."
The Sheed comment in full.... Also how gay or to be politically correct homosexual was the comment by the one ESPN announcer whom I dispise all of them that said, "Rajon looked like Beyonce out there... to the left, to the left." Don't ever compare her to Rondo.
Weird game. The calls weren't consistent either way. Pistons will do their thing tomorrow, just hope the bounces go their way in game 7 to keep ice for Dice alive.
Anyone else hating Perkins this morning. I think I'll stab anyone who utters that ridiculous "KP43"
BTW - I've noticed this site is big on name derived catch phrases. Ice for Dice, Sheedtastic, Tayriffic, Amirzing, even Need4Sheed (even though that phrase predates this blog). Keep throwing them against the wall. Eventually one will stick LOL.
i hate those washed up as commentators. i also wish that tnt had the ECF and Finals instead suck ass espn!
it's entertainment Mark Jackson will never be a coach and he's a bitter bastard with the CORNIEST 1-liners that you'd never wanna hear, Mike Breen what can you say about this nobody? He looks like he'd be the next Just 4 Men cover girl/guy with graying/decaying looking ass. Jeff van gundy, well another washed up coach who by the grace of whoever god you believe in, hopefully will never get to coach another team. I wouldn't even let his dumbass coach JV
The P.J. Brown foul was clearly a flagrant because he didn't even make an attempt at the ball or to wrap up Maxiell's arms. Not a really dirty play, just a flagrant foul.
Also, if Sheed got a tech for his argument, Ray Allen should have had 4 or 5 techs for straight up yelling at the ref several times. Whatever.
I just hope the Pistons will ask the NBA to rescind Sheed's tech.
btw, do you guys remember what happened in 2005? The Pistons lost a pivotal game 5 in Miami and were down 3-2, then they won game 6 at the Palace and beat the Heat in game 7 on the road. Who knows, maybe history will repeat itself.
nat and redwhite and to whoever...sorry for the little outburst last night, on dyess, it was just hard to take the lost, but offcourse so as everyone....ur 110% right, pistons played defense for 36minutes, 3rd quarter, boston was playing a different team. and HOW THE HELL CAN WE EMPHASIZE IT MORE THAN WHAT WERE SAYING!!! prince is in limbo, offense/defense....hes causing the team a defensive breakdown, and sombe bad decision for our offense...u know how flip was gonna monitor billups and put stuckey if billups starts making early mistake, why not apply that to prince???? i just don't get it, the only reason i could think of is there's no one else....but we gotta try someone, afflalo is just an inch shorter than pierce, why not use him as a defesive stopper since prince isn't contributing in the offensive end anyway....I JUST DON"T GET IT!!!!! im still heart broken from the game last night.
Has there been any update on the tech from the other night that the Pistons said they were gonna appeal?
I didn't pull the Sheed tech video.
No news yet on Sheed's technical.
Ric, all if forgiven as long as you realize Dyess deserves everything that has been said about him. Except for last night, he's been huge this whole run.
The officiating has been horrible on both ends all series, as Larry Brown always said....you have to play through it.
Thankfully I don't have to listen to Van Gundy or Jackson on Friday and you can be sure I'm turning the TV down in favor of Blaha come game 7.
I don't have to listen to Van Gundy or Jackson on Friday and you can be sure I'm turning the TV down in favor of Blaha come game 7.
I tried that in '06 when I got fed up with the national guys but couldn't stick with it because of the delay. Who hear they cheering like 2 seconds before a shot goes in. Kinda messes with ya.
Thanks Miyagi, thinking about it now Tivo won't have it since I am probably on something like a 3 second delay. THat's a bummer.
gosh!!! all we need is game 6!!!im so confident pistons are gonna win on the road for game 7. just imagine how celtics were passing up on some wide open shot last night going to the end of the game, and by the way they are home...imagine them playing in game 7 against detroit!!! perkins and rondo are outta the questions they're gonna be damn nervous....garnett has some vintage not wanting to take the shots...every pistons players live for that moment, cherishing the pressure on the big stage, i think thats the biggest thing with stuckey, he doesn't fear it, he embraces it.
There are not enough words to make you guys understand how much I can't stand Perkins. We suffer him a lot. Look at how much damage he did last night, but also in game 3 and other games. The guy scored 16 pts and grabbed 18 boards. And the C's got lots of 2nd chance shots thanks to him. I'm 110% sure that we would have won this game if it wasn't for him. Also, notice how much better we play when he's sitting on the bench (last night's 4th quarter, for instance).
We gotta stop him. We can't lose this series because of frickin Perkins.
ok im starting to get confident we have a big chance of winning game 6 i guess we just need to put game 5 all aside...here are some simple comforting things.
--Just pay attention to chauncey when asked about game 7, he said "we can't worry about game 7, we have to worry about game 6." after getting his rhytm back in game 5 and having that mindset, watch out for him in game 6.
--boston to win game 6 at the palace? when they almost lost at home the game before??? do the math.
--what happens after, whenever sheed gets a technical and combine that with a lost???? its pretty scary!!!!
--how does dyess respond to a situation in the midst of an elimination??? ummm 20+pts and double digit rebounds.
--rip will come with an avengence towards allen, chaunce will make sure that happens, to put rip into a good position, and everybody on the floor
--stuck will punish everything standing his way...he'll breakthrough any wall....remember his collision towards superman (howard)???
I would have felt so much more optimistic if Rip didn't hurt his elbow at the end. Can' they just inject some kinda pain-reliever so he won't feel the pain while shooting? I'm pretty sure that's legal, no? >.<
Rondo vs. Beyonce? Some where in America, Jay Z is going: "did that fool just say my woman looks like a man?"
Whatever happens tomorrow night, the Pistons need to lay it all out on the floor, and the fans need to do the same thing. You guys need to to teach the Garden what being loud is all about.
now i dont want to be pessimistic and i know we still can win this series but besides Perkins killin us not only on the boards but with his scoring what about KG doing whatever he wants to do offensivly!!
The truth is we dont have an answer for him he is clearly the best player in this series with just one lets say medium game in game 4!!
Now i saw that game and yeah the reffs clearly whistled in Bostons favour but we still could have won it if we had better shotselection at the end of the game!
Sheed was hittin threes but i didnt see him in the low post the entire 4th and i ask myself WHY????
But its a big problem that we get in foul trouble every game specially Sheed and Dyess cause when Dyess is on the bench we get outrebounded clearly and thats big for them like we saw yesterday!!
Whatever now everythink that counts is a big game 6 without thinkin of a possible game 7 just win game 6 first of all and than we´ll see what happens cause we all know we can win in Boston for sure!!!
Go Pistons
Here's my thinking....
Glass Half - Full :
1. We came back down 17 in the 3rd, down 13 going into the 4th.
2. We were facing a hostile crowd, with no calls going our way and still came back.
3. Kendrick Perkins and Rajon Rondo are not going to play that well in the next 2 games.
4. Dice will not play that poorly in the next 2 games.
5. We got our three pointers back
6. Chauncey was back to being the old Chauncey.
7. Positive contributions from the bench in Stuckey, Maxy, Lindsey.
8. The Big 3 could not have played any better as a unit (though Pierce could've played better, his points, assists were offset by Ray Ray and KG's big night), and we still almost won.
9. We are going home for Game 6.
10. We have won two games in Boston this season, and came within 1 Rasheed technical, 1 more timeout, 1 less turnover (take your Game 5 loss end of the game excuse) from winning another.
11. We are undefeated in the playoffs following a loss.
12. We play our best ball with out backs against the wall.
13. We have been here before! In 2005, we were tied 2-2 in the Conference Finals. We didn't have home court advantage. We were facing a team with bigger stars than us. We lost Game 5 away. We won Game 6 at home. We won Game 7 away and went on to the Finals.
Glass Half - Empty :
1. We lost.
2. We lost a tough game
3. We lost a tough game that makes me want to vomit and punch the wall just thinking about it and will drive me crazy for the next 5 months if we don't win this series.
4. Ray Allen stepped up bigtime and may have finally gotten out of his slump.
5. Boston has won in Detroit this series.
6. We have been getting absolutely owned on the boards this series.
7. Tayshaun has really hit a wall. He's played 40 + minutes most of the playoffs, while guarding each team's best offensive threat. He isn't getting many good looks either because....
8. Boston has taken away any lost post threat that we have. Sheed had a big game but I think he only took 2 field goals inside the paint last night. Dice didn't do much. And the majority of Tay's looks are from outside.
9. We are coming off of a gut-wrenching loss. It remains to be seen how we will recover from it.
10. Sheed is one tech away from not being able to play in Game 7 (if we win Game 6)
11. We still can't stop Paul Pierce.
12. This will be Bostons 20th game in 40 nights and they're not really showing signs of being tired.
13. There are slight, growing signs of the unhapiness in the locker room that led to the debacle in Cleveland last yr - Sheed's technicals, Tay saying he is not getting any good lucks, Lindsey and Dice questioning Flip's removal of Lindsey with 5 mins to go to put Chauncey back in when the Stuckey, Lindsey, Rip lineup made the comeback. Not the end of the world, but small signs that have to be mentioned.
14. But most importantly, Rip is hurt. Any injury to the shooting arm is really going to affect him greatly. I have no doubt that Stuckey will step up, but Rip has been our most consistent offensive threat this postseason and the offense will greatly suffer if he can't go. That really will be the key to Game . If he can go, I have little doubt that we can and will win. If he can't go, it will be very, very difficult.
Great post Dave, can we muster up one more to even things up at 14?
Pistons have a few answers for Garnot. They were in foul trouble though.
If the league went back and said that Rips foul the other night was a flagrant, lets see if they do the same for Piece last night.
When the Pistons lose a fair game, I don't feel so bad, but these have not been fair games. Thankfully Monday was a win.
I know they have to play through it, and that the Pistons shot themselves in the foot in the 3rd, but is it too much to ask that the games be called consistant and fairly? Ever hear of umpires calling a onesided baseball game?
Rip's listed as questionable
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080529/ap_on_sp_bk_ne/bkn_pistons_hamilton
No hard feelings ric ;] You're alright.
My main concern at the moment is Rip. It is possible to win without him but (as Dave mentioned) it will certainly be very, very difficult. He looked like he was in a great deal of pain at the end of the game. I just hope it's not serious, and he can play through it.
GO PISTONS!!!!
Haha didn't notice I hadn't evened them up.
14. Take your choice of: Stuckey has already replaced one of our All Star guards this postseason... our three guard lineup did a great job of harassing the Celtics...Rondo, KG, and Pierce all continually have passed up big shots at the end of game this series....
And on and on....
I really can't fathom Detroit NOT winning game 6 at the Palace. They have too much drive, too much experience, and trust me, they want it more.
@the fluidics
sry but i dont see those answers and they are in foul trouble every game against Boston!!
Garnett is averaging 24points and 10 rebounds with 54% fg% if this isnt big than i just dont know!
U can tell me that its ok he makes 24 as long as Allen or Pierce got a bad game but like i said as long as Dyess gets into foul trouble they gone outrebound us every game and that hurts us!
Well at home we can take that cause Perkins wont have another big game like that but we could need a little bit more points in the paint to let Garnett play a little bit more Defense!
Go Pistons
fluidics, i hope ur right.
since were getting all the ticky tack calls anyway, is it possible for the pistons to make a rule on their own? THE GARNETT RULES! lets bring back the Bad Boys when they made a JORDAN RULES!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Rules
guys, what do you think sheed is thinking today, anything relating to the series?
i can't f**** believe this is how sheed got the technical (from keith langlois):
Rasheed Wallace picked up his sixth technical foul of the postseason when Mike Callahan slapped him with one late after Lindsey Hunter was called for a personal foul. Wallace appeared to react by kicking out his right leg – but he wasn’t reacting to the Hunter foul; rather, he was showing Callahan what a Boston defender had done to him on the previous possession.
was at the game monday (behind a jerk that painted his torso green) but cant be on friday. you guys gotta go cheer your butts off. the season cant end like this...not yet
Sheed is right.. the league is trying to get boston vs. LA in the finals and i think they are doing everything to get that.. the nba is looking fake and sheed agrees.. im a diehard pistons fan and its killing me to see them get F'd out of the finals by the refs.. i just hope we get that win in the palace and beat them losers in there gym and watch them cry
can somebody plz tell me why we haven't seen a decent minutes from afflalo and amir? celts been killing us on boards and pierce does whatever he wants with prince.
I dont get why Flip wont play Maxiell 20+ minutes a game? He doesnt seem to be getting tired AT ALL, and he matches up on garnett's speed better than McDyess or Ratliff. Announcers couldnt get over why Maxiell was benched after creating such a spark.
I hate how most Pistons fans(SORRY!) say that Maxiell is a good spark