May 27, 2008 8:23 am  |  34 Comments

Game Notes: Boston at Detroit, Game 4

It’s 2-2. McDyess lives!

By Tim Darga a.k.a. TADOne

A few pre-game thoughts:

· The Pistons are 4-0 in games this year in the playoffs after losses. In other words, they have the Celtics right where they want them.

· I think John Hollinger is a nerd and all, but in his plus/minus rating system, the Pistons were -25 when Billups was in the game and +3 when Stuckey was in the game. Flip has said Chauncey will be on a shorter leash tonight if he isn’t performing, and I cannot say that I disagree.

· Let me get this straight: You’re team wins its first road playoff game, and you decide to start complaining about playing time? Bad form, Sam.

· Boston just needs to keep doing what they have been doing. KG is playing at an MVP level in this series. Sheed needs to have a big game tonight to slow Garnett down.

1st Q:

· Sheed hits the 1st shot of the game, and Ray Allen proceeds to throw it away on the other end.

· Role reversal? Detroit shoots out to a 10-0 lead, led by 8 points from McDyess and two Celtic turnovers. The Pistons energy level is noticeably higher.

· Kendrick Perkins scowl is highly annoying and seems a bit contrived.

· The Pistons are extremely active on the defensive end, seemingly getting a hand on every pass and shot. Paul Pierce looks frustrated early.

· Detroit is moving the ball from side-to-side and making the extra pass, getting clean looks at the basket. This is the classic Pistons basketball everyone has grown accustomed to, sharing the ball and finding the mismatches or the hot shooting hand.

· Boston looks slow pretty much everywhere on the court, even getting outhustled for rebounds on the defensive boards.

· The hamstring looks fine tonight. Chauncey finishes a sweet spin move with a short jumper from the paint. His defense has been even better.

· A Jarvis Hayes sighting! After an air ball three, his playing time might be short lived.

· Not in my house! Maxiell brings the fans out of their seats with an exceptional block from behind on a sure KG dunk.

· Hamilton gets caught on his Reggie Miller push-off move, and has to go to the bench with two fouls. The Pistons savior Rodney Stuckey checks in to a standing O.

· The free throw line is keeping the Celtics in a game they should be losing by double digits, hitting 11-11 from the charity stripe. The Pistons lead 22-17 after 1 quarter.

2nd Q:

· Where is the pimp cane? Doc Rivers openly flirts with Michelle Tafoya on camera, telling her she looks nice in her dress and ignoring her questions about the first quarter. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.

· The Pistons continue to amp up the defensive pressure, blocking shots and creating turnovers. The Celtics have no answer and KG is oddly silent so far.

· Jason Maxiell is pining for more playing time by scoring, rebounding, and getting a sweet lob from Stuckey, serving notice to the Pistons youth movement.

· KG gets bailed out by the refs for his first points of the game.

· Somebody has awaken Kendrick Perkins, who gets entirely too demonstrative on a dunk.

· Garnett gets called for two straight offensive fouls, and is clearly perturbed. The defense on KG has been superb so far.

· Flip may want to explain to his team that Kendrick Perkins is an eligible player, and that they may want to put a body on him.

· For as active and dominating as Detroit has been in the first half, Boston is very much in this game, doubling up the Pistons from the charity stripe. They are only down four at the half, 43-39. This has to weigh heavily on the Pistons minds going into the half.

Halftime:

· BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. Not exactly sure what I expected from Stu Scott, Mike Wilbon, and Jon Barry, but I’m quite sure I could get the same info from reading a box score.

· Apparently, Chauncey and Kevin are friends as well. Is it too much to ask that TNT get exclusive rights to all NBA games, period?

3rd Q:

· Detroit continues to bail out Boston by sending them to the free throw line.

· McDyess continues where he left off in the first half, and the Pistons defense continues to make life miserable for the Celtics on offense.

· While Chauncey is only shooting 1-8, his overall floor game and leadership have been impressive.

· Detroit begins to get frustrated by bail-out calls by the refs, and Saunders gets a tech complaining about the foul disparity.

· Both Wallace and Hamilton have four fouls apiece, and the Pistons are in the penalty with 5:56 still left in the third.

· Who wants it? McDyess wants it! He flexes his bicep to the courtside fans after hitting another shot. He already has a double-double with 19 and 12.

· The ebb and flow of this game has been choppy for both teams. Every time Detroit begins to blow the game open, Boston gets to the line and stays close. Regardless, the Pistons have lead the whole game.

· Posey hits a long jumper at the 3rd quarter buzzer, and Detroit leads by 7 going into the 4th.

4th Q:

· While praising the Detroit defense all night, Boston has played well on the defensive end as well. This is a game of attrition.

· Wallace picks up his 5th foul with 10:18 left in the game. If the Celtics are to make a run, now would be a good time.

· Sam I Am calls his own number on offense, shooting an ill-advised three and upsetting Doc. Neither team has hit a three-pointer in the game yet.

· Just as I mention this, Posey hits a corner three ball and the Celtics are within five.

· Maxiell has scored the last six points for the Pistons, filling in ably for Wallace and keeping the Celtics at bay.

· No Celtic appears to want to shoot the ball as Garnett, Allen, and Pierce pass up open looks on consecutive possessions. This looks like the team that the Hawks and Cavs took to 7 games.

· The Pistons go to a 3 guard lineup with six minutes left as Hamilton, Stuckey, and Hunter are all in the game. Billups is on the bench getting treatment on his hamstring.

· Detroit is getting hammered on the defensive boards and allowing Boston to stay in the game with multiple second-chance opportunities.

· Flip goes back to his starters for the last four minutes of the game, and Wallace proceeds to foul out Perkins and get to the line for the first time tonight.

· Chauncey hits the first 3 of the game for Detroit, and this is looking more and more like the Pistons night. They are up 83-73 with 3 minutes remaining in the game.

· Doc decides to go small, playing Posey at the “4” and applying full-court pressure. Allen misses two straight from the line.

· The Pistons smell blood in the water and are attacking, going on an 11-2 run. With a 14 point lead, all that is left to figure out is the final score.

· Boston empties its bench and essentially waves the white flag. What exactly has Leon Powe, who was so big in the Celtics first two series, done to not get any burn in this series? Doc’s substitution patterns are quite confounding.

· A Jarvis Hayes three puts an exclamation point on a 19-point win for Detroit, with the score not indicative of how close it was until the final few minutes. Detroit led wire-to-wire in this game.

Thoughts:

Where was this effort from the Pistons in game 3? Mission accomplished for Boston as they go back to the Garden with home court back in their favor. If I was Boston, I would still be worried about their effort in this game and the fact they never had the lead. MVP of the game: Antonio McDyess. His spirited play stemmed all of the Celtics runs with big baskets or rebounds. His final line: 21 pts, 16 boards. This has all the makings of a 7-game series.

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  • Eboy Posted: May.27 at 8:37 am
    I like my game notes littered with drunken shouting and vulgarities.

  • 5mooth Posted: May.27 at 8:37 am
    that maxiell block was nasty but tonight it was all about mcdyess. dont know but i personally love those van gundy qoutes.

  • H to the izzo Posted: May.27 at 8:38 am
    Doc Rivers is not a good coach.

  • Nick Posted: May.27 at 8:51 am
    Good notes Tad. Good game. When the pistons play hard and swing the ball, it’s a beautiful thing. They look for a wide open shot, and try to get the ball to the hot hand in scoring position. If no wide open shot presents itself, they look for a favorable one on one matchup. It’s so…simple, but still rare to see it done well.

  • Nick Posted: May.27 at 8:52 am
    5mooth: gundy is the sole redeeming factor of ESPN broadcasts.

  • Ken Posted: May.27 at 8:54 am
    So good to see Dice play that well.

  • adams Posted: May.27 at 9:13 am
    Where are the so-called “superstars” in this series?

  • nic Posted: May.27 at 9:22 am
    i dont care how good his “floor leadership” is, in my opinion if chauncey isnt healthy enough to punish rondo in the post at least a half dozen times over a game, theres no way the Ps can win this series.

  • Squirrel7 Posted: May.27 at 10:48 am
    Always been a fan of Dice, and personally find it extremely impressive that he managed to adapt his game from ruthless high-flier to highly-efficient post player after knee problems. Now if only I could find my old Nugs #24 vest….

  • Nick Posted: May.27 at 11:09 am
    The pistons will win because of the incontrovertible “Ray Allen Theory”: Ray allen lead the C’s in minutes this season, spent 7 games getting abused by joe johnson, and ran out of gas after another seven game series Vs. the lebrons. Now he has the responsibility of chasing around Rip, the L’s “best conditioned athlete,” who is abusing him to the tune of 20 ppg and almost 50 % shooting. Now, Ray’s legs are dead. The only thing that can kill a pure jump shooter: No legs. Ray can’t gaurd anyone else, which means Rip will keep wearing him out for the rest of the series. Unless PP, KG, and Rondo can outscore the Sheed-billups-Tay-Maxiell-Dice-Stucky headed Hydra that is the pistons O, they are dunzo.

  • DP Posted: May.27 at 11:16 am
    Nice pimp hand yourself, TAD. good notes my man. Hey does anyone know where Antonio Mcdyess is from? yeah you all know what it is.

  • Nick Posted: May.27 at 11:18 am
    If you have A.)Tivo, B.) no life and C.)No desire to maintain faith that the boston celtics can actually win this series, spend some time watching Ray try to chase Rip away from the ball. If moving without the ball was a boxing match, Rip-Ray would be Tyson-Spinks.

  • Nick Posted: May.27 at 11:20 am
    Annnnd, i’m a basketball nerd.

  • TADOne Posted: May.27 at 11:20 am
    No drinking or vulgarities in this edition, E. I think I consumed enough after Saturday’s so-called game.

  • TADOne Posted: May.27 at 11:22 am
    Oh, and when I said that Sheed needed to have a good game, by that I meant McDyess. My tourette’s had flared up as I was typing.

  • TADOne Posted: May.27 at 11:24 am
    Nick: Ray Allen is quite confounding. I honestly thought he had regained his form in game 2, only to become gun-shy again. Actually, all of the Celtics appeared that way last night.

  • Nick Posted: May.27 at 11:29 am
    In game two i think ray just got the pep back in his step. He got to the basket a few times and the crowd got him up. As a veteran of out of shape jump shot reliant pick-up basketball, hitting a few shots can do wonders for your confidence/legs. I just think that rip will constantly demoralize him more and more and more.

  • dfrance Posted: May.27 at 11:42 am
    Yeah Rip is just abusing Ray, it’s not even close. But it doesn’t help that the Celts don’t run one play for Ray the whole game. If he was making Rip work as hard on D as he has too, maybe their matchup would be even.
    And I don’t know wassup wit KG. When he’s been agressive in this series, he’s scored whenever he wanted. Yesterday he went back to fadeaway, I don’t want the rock KG and look at the results.

  • Nick Posted: May.27 at 12:08 pm
    Dfrance: KG is a definite headscratcher. I don’t know why anyone takes this Boston team more seriously than the 2000-2001 bucks (Big dawg, Ray Ray, and Sam I am…It’s a big three! crown ‘em!). Is it because they’re from boston that they suddenly become the team of destiny? They have three good players. That ain’t enough.

  • Mark Z Posted: May.27 at 12:17 pm
    Man, that was an ugly game. I stopped watching at some point. Ray? He’s been hounded throughout the playoffs and it’s definitely taken him out his game. He gets plenty of open looks though, but hasn’t been knocking them down. He has been doing a decent job on D and he gets to the line, so he’s not just out there running around… KG? Needs to be more consistant. He can dominate the Sheed matchup if he makes Wallace work. As far as Dice goes, I’m glad he’s got his game back, but these feel-good stories are a little much. He’s a multi-millionaire who had to rehab from multiple knee surgeries. Why is that important?

  • Nick Posted: May.27 at 12:35 pm
    Ray has been doing a decent job on D? His man is doing him for 20 points per on almost 50% from the field. I repeat: 50% from the field. As a shooting guard. In the playoffs. His only defensive victory is his steady play (so far) of the urge to take his own life. He’s playing every game like he just got done with the two busty chicks that rick fox hooked him up. He’s got nothing left.

  • Vortex Knight Posted: May.27 at 1:34 pm
    I think the biggest problem for the Celts (besides Doc’s bizarre rotations - Powe? House? Who?) was just that they got hammered every time down. The reason the free throw disparity was so huge was that the Pistons literally beat them up. KG couldn’t get much going because every time he got the ball inside the free throw line, two guys would converge and beat on him. Hard to get in a rhythm when you’re getting hammered every time you take a shot.

  • sab Posted: May.27 at 1:46 pm
    Tad - i agree with the sentence “You’re team wins its first road playoff game, and you decide to start complaining about playing time? Bad form, Sam” - but the typo at the beginning is disgusting. “You are team wins…” - wtf is happening to the english language? I’d complain about american educational standards, but it happens just as often here in little england. Sad times. Good notes otherwise

  • Dma Posted: May.27 at 2:14 pm
    after the 10th bullsh*t call in the game i could see who the refs were pulling for. the funny thing is i dont hate the celtics’ players individually. but with their powers combined i hate them very much. and Rondo looks like Bow Wow i’ve decided.

  • B. Long Posted: May.27 at 3:05 pm
    I was trying to explain to my boy last night that before the crazy 3 year scourge of injuries McDyess had almost Lebron like athletism and had to basicly reinvent himself as a ball player to make it in the league and dude looked at me like I was Amy Winehouse fresh out of rehab. Can I get an Amen from anyone who saw the man in his first couple years in the L?

  • Shawn Bradley Jr. Posted: May.27 at 3:39 pm
    Antonio McDyess seems so old it’s like “the night of the living McDyess.”

  • Shawn Bradley Jr. Posted: May.27 at 3:51 pm
    Sorry B.Long I hadn’t read your message. I remember when McDice was a Nuggets he used to play above the rim.

  • Kevin Posted: May.27 at 5:41 pm
    good notes Tad, def got a good feel for the game without having watched myself.. i’m never goin on a business trip again during the NBA playoffs ever again :S

  • TADOne Posted: May.27 at 8:37 pm
    Thanks everyone. B. Long: I definitely remember the McDyess from back in the day when he was balling with the Nugs. He was a beast. Knee surgeries wrecked his athleticism from what it was, but the man re-invented himself quite well.

  • TADOne Posted: May.27 at 9:21 pm
    Wow, my imposter is back. Um, whoever you are commenting at 9:10 and 9:11, you must really be bored. You really couldn’t have chosen someone much cooler than myself?

  • Hursty Posted: May.28 at 2:26 am
    I think your cool tad :) great notes btw :) :) :) :) :) :)

  • Hursty Posted: May.28 at 3:01 am
    McDyess is the first half of the nuggets PF injuries. Kmart is his older self playing on the same team.

  • Hursty Posted: May.28 at 3:04 am
    I good enlisch speak.
    what im trying to say is that Kmart with the nets= McDyess with the nuggets. The similarity is that they could= 1 player for the nuggets pre and post knee injury, especially with the time of their careers linking together.

  • KA Posted: May.28 at 4:25 am
    lol at doc pimpin tafoya, smooth

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