Pistons. Business.
It’s a 2-0 series. Welcome to it.
Nobody has stepped up to claim the Pistons-Magic series. That is, no SLAMonline columnist has. The Pistons are doing a good job of claiming the series already. Sure, it’s early, but Detroit seems to be “into it”, trying to win even though their collective backs are nowhere near the wall. Chauncey and the Pistons benefited from some fancy hometown Auburn Hills clockwork, as they were given an extra 4 seconds or so at the end of the third quarter, which wound up with the Pistons getting three points they didn’t deserve.
That being said…
Orlando scored 36 points in the 3rd quarter, hitting 7 threes, overcoming a 14 point deficit. Detroit held on at the end, and now they can relax and blow two road games for old time’s sake before waking up at the last minute to survive the series and move on. I think people are expecting Boston-Cleveland to be a long hard-fought series. Maybe the Celtics came so close to going down in Patriot flames, that they now remember how to play on the road. Then again, it’s possible that LeBron goes off by himself vs. a great (?) Celtics team a la - please don’t be angry about this - Michael Jordan in ‘86. Oh wait, the Bulls lost that game. The point being, the winner of Cavs-Celtics should be the worn down and tired team needing rest heading into the Conference Finals.
The Pistons are already out to their 2-0 lead. If they wrap this thing up early, they will get to rest for a while and be the fresher team against Boston or Cleveland. I know these Pistons well. They would rather go through extra difficulty than rest up and be the favorite.
Another funny thing about last night’s game and the extra time given to Billups… the Orlando Magic have one of the NBA marketing golden boys in Dwight Howard. The league would love to have him on the playoff stage for a long time, new blood as opposed to the same old Pistons that everyone outside of Michigan are bored of. Who do I sound like when I say the NBA has a preference in which team wins a series? Why, Rasheed Wallace of course! Sheed said nothing about the Chauncey play, no “The refs took care of business” or “That’s David Stern’s orders to the home team clock operator” or anything like that. Guess it’s different when you’re on the other end of it. Oh, Dwight had 22 and 18 in the loss. 22 and 18 is a man’s stat line. And yet, Orlando is still SOFT!
Okay, Aggrey should have a Spurs-Hornets game notes coming. Trust me, I find Chris Paul vs. the established defending champs much more interesting than this series.
43 Responses to “Pistons. Business.”
May.6 at 8:50 am
AT THE END OF THE DAY says:
Refs:1
Magic:0 Robbed
May.6 at 8:53 am
BETCATS says:
“Okay, Aggrey should have a Spurs-Hornets game notes coming. Trust me, I find Chris Paul vs. the established defending champs much more interesting than this series.” I do too. But good work with what you had to work with Sam. Detroit in 5!!!!! Five!!!!! 5ive!!!!!
May.6 at 8:55 am
Eboy says:
Another black eye for the league, courtesy of Auburn Hills. What a disgrace. Well to a true basketball fan it would be, not to someone who would think “what does those 3 points mean anyway.” Only thing worth talking about in this game was the destruction of Theo Ratliff at the hands of DaHowitzer from the two handed destruction in the third quarter. All in all, another shi*ty win from those Detroit boys. Great points throughout, Sam.
May.6 at 8:56 am
DP says:
Damn, I thought Orlando would at least keep their legs closed. Now it is wide open and the Pistons are just charging through. By the way CP3 is f*cking amazing. Not KOBE amazing but amazing.
May.6 at 9:01 am
BETCATS says:
Dwight Howard is a rich man’s Stromile Swift.
May.6 at 9:04 am
AT THE END OF THE DAY says:
BETCATS is a poor mans Sam Rubenstein
May.6 at 9:05 am
BETCATS says:
AT THE END OF THE DAY is a poor mans morning
May.6 at 9:06 am
Tariq says:
I STILL THINK THAT IT’S A DAMN SHAME NOBODY HAS COME UP WITH A VISION-RELATED NICKNAME FOR DWIGHT HOWARD IN RECOGNITION OF THE FACT THAT HE’S CAPABLE OF GETTING A 20/20 ON ANY GIVEN NIGHT. THAT TYPE OF NEGLECT IS ALMOST AS BAD AS RITUALISTIC MURDERS CARRIED OUT BY SECRET SOCIETIES.
May.6 at 9:07 am
Tuomas says:
Thanks Sam, about F’n time. About Orlando being robbed though: that’s some bullsh*t right there. The refs basically didn’t have much choice - as even the always awesome SVG admitted - and it’s not like the Magic would’ve had a W even if they waved it off. With their fourth quarter, um, “savvy”, I’m pretty sure they’d find a way to blow it. They had plenty of chances either way. And those fouls on Dwight? Playoff-type fouls? Didn’t think so. So shut the hell up and wait for the Magic to catch a lucky break of their own.
May.6 at 9:07 am
Eboy says:
Caps lock buddy, caps lock.
May.6 at 9:13 am
Tariq says:
EBOY: ALL MY COMMENTS ON SAM’S POSTS WILL BE IN ALL CAPS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE AS A TRIBUTE TO LOCKED UP P, THE GREATEST INTELLECTUAL OF THE LATE 20TH/EARLY 21ST CENTURY.
May.6 at 9:14 am
Nguni says:
the refs could not review the play. we had the luxury to look at it in hindsight, they had to make a decision right there and then. they were 0.8sec wrong. That is a pretty good estimate. The Magic had the lead in the fourth quarter, even after this, and they still blew it, why? Because of the MIP. CP3 is the real MVP!
May.6 at 9:18 am
Eboy says:
Nothing like taking a stand for something no one else can give a sh*t about.
May.6 at 9:20 am
Sam Rubenstein says:
I had a job in college as a scoreboard clock operator. It was a lot of pushing a button, waiting a little bit, pushing a button again. Just like in the hatch in LOST! It’s not difficult work, I don’t know how they keep messing it up. I WOULD WRITE A PHILISOPHER P DIATRIBE BUT PEOPE OFTEN STRUGGLE WITH UNDERSTAND WHAT IS SARCASM AND WHAT ISN’T SO THEY MIGHT THINK I REALLY BELIEVE WHAT I AM SAYING
May.6 at 9:20 am
Tariq says:
EBOY: THAT MUST BE WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE A HEAT FAN.
May.6 at 9:24 am
Tariq says:
SAM: I THINK I WILL WRITE THAT INSTEAD. IN FACT, I THINK I WILL START A SITE IN WHICH I IMPERSONATE P IN HIS VARIOUS INCARNATIONS (E.G. LOCKED UP P, STAY-AT-HOME-DAD P, BALLET AFICIONADO P AND THIRD-WAVE-FEMINIST P).
May.6 at 9:24 am
Tuomas says:
Sam, IT WAS THE FIRST COMMENT THAT GOT ME TO BITE, NOT YOURS.
May.6 at 9:25 am
Tariq says:
I’M STARTING TO CHANGE MY MIND ABOUT THE PISTONS. IF THEY MAINTAIN THIS INTENSITY, THEY COULD BE VERY DANGEROUS.
May.6 at 9:30 am
Shu says:
Well when ORL can get a enforcer next to Dwight with the money that they saved from signing that bargain deal for Ras… They won’t be able to keep Hedo in two years, but he’ll be turning 33 so he might stay for a bargain… Hmmm I think they will be the team of the east along with CLE/wherever bron lands. I mean, their team is one title starved veteran big ala Kurt Thomas away from contending year after year. Yes, WITH JAMEER NELSON. And those vets would LOOOVE to play with Dwight in a year or two so watch out for these guys. Just prolly not this year though. Last hurrah for the ’stons? We say that every year….
May.6 at 9:35 am
Tariq says:
SHU: I THINK HEDO’S 28 OR 29, ISN’T HE?
May.6 at 9:35 am
AT THE END OF THE DAY says:
Sam Rubenstein is a poor mans scoreboard clock operator
May.6 at 9:49 am
Eboy says:
Where is TAD’s opinion on last night’s game? C’mon son, I need to read something worthwhile this morning.
May.6 at 11:35 am
TADOne says:
Hey ya’ll, i’m late to the party but I brought the kool-aid! Great win by the Pistons last night. F*ck the shot clock malfunction; that is called homecourt advantage people! And Eboy, if you want something to read, just click my name for game notes.
May.6 at 11:44 am
detroit says:
Refs suck and bad calls are made get over it. In the last game the pistons got called for a foul when Dooling ran into Gortat. The home team has a right to complain because if it happened to the pistons I would complain too but came on when was the last team that beat the pistons despite 19 TO
May.6 at 11:45 am
Captain America says:
The PeeStones will not make it to the Finals. Did you see the Prince sky? Holy shiit dat guy can sky.
May.6 at 12:23 pm
Nick says:
Tariq you have made my day. Oh, and also, PISTONS IN 5.
May.6 at 12:59 pm
Ace of Spades says:
You Orlando b*tches are just that. Theres nothin to say that even if they hadnt gotten the three points that they still wouldnt have pulled out a win like they have done so many times. They were only up TWO after that play and if that makes that much of a difference to where it decides a game, then Orlando and its fans are just as soft as their Magic team name. Don’t be mad. We didnt complain when Dooling ran into his own guy, know why? Cuz we didnt lose. Had Orlando won, nobody would care about that call. STFU and Detroit will win it all, Magic… haha.
May.6 at 1:03 pm
Bootleg Joe says:
3 points or not, they were going to lose. Orlando had the lead and blew it. They can’t win this series anyway, so don’t cry too much. Doesn’t really matter who wins this. Boston is going to smack the winner around like Robert Porche on his wife at the doctor’s office.
May.6 at 1:26 pm
AT THE END OF THE DAY says:
Detroit looks like a really depressing place to live and/or visit
May.6 at 1:44 pm
Mark Z says:
That was a classic Detroit finish. Force turnovers, get fouled, go to the line, win.
May.6 at 2:14 pm
Justin says:
Orlando still wins this Series. See: Eastern Conference Semifinals 2007.
I’ll be in the rafters at the O-Rena tomorrow night.
May.6 at 2:17 pm
Justin says:
BTW, where were Theo’s “soft” comments after this?
youtube.com/watch?v=4y1YRFSU-oY
May.6 at 2:36 pm
Eboy says:
Nice Justin. Best power dunk of the season.
May.6 at 3:13 pm
Jim says:
You’ll notice in replays that the clock operator actually started the clock but it stopped at 4.8 (supposedly b/c one of the refs accidentally blew his whistle)…so it really wasn’t the clock operators fault. How were the Pistons given an extra 4 seconds? Replays showed Billups got the ball off in 5.22 seconds when there was 5.1 left on the clock at the start of the play (plus the clock only shows 5.1…so it could have been 5.17 actually left)
May.6 at 3:30 pm
AT THE END OF THE DAY says:
I’ll probably be catching some nosebleeds at the hamway as well
May.6 at 3:56 pm
Isaac says:
I can’t believe I just wasted 60 seconds of my life reading this. I could have gotten the same coverage from a 10 yr old
May.6 at 4:09 pm
TADOne says:
That Magic still had TWELVE minutes to overcome this supposed “robbery”.
May.6 at 4:16 pm
tenorca says:
Justin: That was a ridiculous dunk, but this remains my favorite…at about the minute mark: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6EHymC25RM
May.6 at 4:40 pm
Justin says:
AT THE END OF THE DAY….I can’t stand the current “name” of the O-Rena.
May.6 at 4:45 pm
AT THE END OF THE DAY says:
Yah, the O-rena has had some horrible names TD WATERHOUSE, HAMWAY…hopefully the new arena will have a better name…and more to eat than overpriced BBQ sammiches
May.6 at 5:00 pm
Justin says:
$8 chicken fingers.
May.6 at 5:57 pm
Eboy says:
TAD is in the dark about the rules of basketball as well as momentum shifts.
May.7 at 4:55 am
Tuomas says:
You got a point Eboy? Let’s finally see it.