Eastern Conference Champs!
The Pistons are Eastern Conference Champs after beating the Pacers 69-65 tonight in game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. They will now move onto the NBA Finals to face the Lakers.
It may not have been the prettiest victory but the Pistons did what they had to do in order to win this game. Here is a game recap.
First Quarter-Indiana outplayed the Pistons in the first quarter. Detroit missed a ton of easy shots. They also allowed Indiana to get some easy buckets. In the first quarter Ron Artest held Rip Hamilton to just 1 point. At the end of the first Indiana had a big 23-11 lead.
Second Quarter-In the second quarter Indiana made just 3 of 14 shots. They only scored 10 points and turned the ball over 7 times.
The Pistons didn't shoot much better making only 7 of 25 shots.
Ben Wallace went on a 4 point run in the second quarter to put the Pistons back within 3 points. At that point Indiana was leading 27-24.
At halftime the Pacers had a 33-27 lead. It was the lowest scoring half in NBA playoff history.
Third Quarter-At the start of the third quarter Tayshaun Prince scored 5 straight points to put the Pistons back within 3.
Late in the third quarter the Pistons went on a 8-1 run. They were still down 50-46 heading into the final quarter.
Fourth Quarter-Early in the fourth Chauncey Billups hit his first 2 three pointers of the game to tie the game at 57-57.
With the score tied at 59-59 Artest committed a flagrant foul against Rip Hamilton by striking him in the face with his forearm. It was a cheap shot and the refs made the right call. Rip Hamilton made both free throws to give the Pistons their first lead of the game at 61-59. Rasheed Wallace followed up the 2 free throws with a great dunk off a missed shot giving the Pistons a 4 point lead.
After the Pacers got a bucket to come within 2 points, Rip hit a huge jumper with 1:13 left in the game to give the Pistons a 65-61 lead.
After a Ron Artest miss, Tayshaun Prince hit a huge 2 pointer to give the Pistons a 67-61 lead. After Tayshaun's bucket the Pacers scored 4 more points but it wasn't enough to make a comeback. The final score was 69-65 Pistons.
Game Thoughts-The first half was terrible for both teams. Detroit missed countless easy layups and jump shots. If the Pistons wouldn't have played great defense on Indiana the Pistons might have gotten blown out.
Again the Pistons got a huge game from Rip Hamilton. After scoring just 1 point in the first quarter Rip ended the game with 21 points,5 assists, and 5 rebounds.
Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace combined for 23 points and 27 rebounds.
A player's name that won't show up on the stat sheet is Lindsey Hunter. He provided a spark for the Pistons to help them stay in the game.
Another guy who had a great game was Tayshaun Prince. He only scored 7 points but he did three important things in the 4th quarter to help Detroit get the win. First he made an important jumper to put them up by 6. Second he made a crucial block to help secure the lead. Finally he made a great pass off the inbound to a wide open Ben Wallace who dunked it home to put the Pistons up by 6 late in the game.
This game showed how good the Pistons are. When they were down and playing terrible they came back and played great at the right time. Guys stepped up and gave them the chance to win.
Series Thoughts-The guy who had the biggest series for the Pistons was Rip Hamilton. He averaged over 23 points a game and hit a bunch of huge shots. Without him this series would have been a whole different story. Everyone in the NBA is saying that "Rip Hamilton is becoming a star right before our eyes". After a series like this it is hard to disagree.
Another guy who had a huge series was Tayshaun Prince. Most people would think he had a bad series because he was barely scored at all. He made up for it on the defensive end though. He stopped Ron Artest this entire series. He only allowed him to only have one good game. Most importantly was his game saving block on Reggie Miller in game 2. If he hadn't made that block the Pistons maybe would have been down 2-0 going back home. He also made some other key plays throughout the series.
Rasheed Wallace was kindof the X-factor in this series. Everybody will remember his game 2 garauntee when he said the Pistons would win. He was right and the Pistons did win but he only scored 10 points. He did however score 20 points in game 3 and 22 points in game 5(both victories). He played good at times and then bad at others. He will need to step it up as they go against the Lakers.
NBA Finals-The Pistons now look to the NBA Finals. This is the first time since 1990 that they have been to the Finals. They will go up against the Lakers. I am not sure if the Pistons can beat them but we will see. As of right now I want to enjoy this Eastern Conference Title. I will talk about the NBA Finals tomorrow.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals will be Sunday Night on ABC.
It may not have been the prettiest victory but the Pistons did what they had to do in order to win this game. Here is a game recap.
First Quarter-Indiana outplayed the Pistons in the first quarter. Detroit missed a ton of easy shots. They also allowed Indiana to get some easy buckets. In the first quarter Ron Artest held Rip Hamilton to just 1 point. At the end of the first Indiana had a big 23-11 lead.
Second Quarter-In the second quarter Indiana made just 3 of 14 shots. They only scored 10 points and turned the ball over 7 times.
The Pistons didn't shoot much better making only 7 of 25 shots.
Ben Wallace went on a 4 point run in the second quarter to put the Pistons back within 3 points. At that point Indiana was leading 27-24.
At halftime the Pacers had a 33-27 lead. It was the lowest scoring half in NBA playoff history.
Third Quarter-At the start of the third quarter Tayshaun Prince scored 5 straight points to put the Pistons back within 3.
Late in the third quarter the Pistons went on a 8-1 run. They were still down 50-46 heading into the final quarter.
Fourth Quarter-Early in the fourth Chauncey Billups hit his first 2 three pointers of the game to tie the game at 57-57.
With the score tied at 59-59 Artest committed a flagrant foul against Rip Hamilton by striking him in the face with his forearm. It was a cheap shot and the refs made the right call. Rip Hamilton made both free throws to give the Pistons their first lead of the game at 61-59. Rasheed Wallace followed up the 2 free throws with a great dunk off a missed shot giving the Pistons a 4 point lead.
After the Pacers got a bucket to come within 2 points, Rip hit a huge jumper with 1:13 left in the game to give the Pistons a 65-61 lead.
After a Ron Artest miss, Tayshaun Prince hit a huge 2 pointer to give the Pistons a 67-61 lead. After Tayshaun's bucket the Pacers scored 4 more points but it wasn't enough to make a comeback. The final score was 69-65 Pistons.
Game Thoughts-The first half was terrible for both teams. Detroit missed countless easy layups and jump shots. If the Pistons wouldn't have played great defense on Indiana the Pistons might have gotten blown out.
Again the Pistons got a huge game from Rip Hamilton. After scoring just 1 point in the first quarter Rip ended the game with 21 points,5 assists, and 5 rebounds.
Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace combined for 23 points and 27 rebounds.
A player's name that won't show up on the stat sheet is Lindsey Hunter. He provided a spark for the Pistons to help them stay in the game.
Another guy who had a great game was Tayshaun Prince. He only scored 7 points but he did three important things in the 4th quarter to help Detroit get the win. First he made an important jumper to put them up by 6. Second he made a crucial block to help secure the lead. Finally he made a great pass off the inbound to a wide open Ben Wallace who dunked it home to put the Pistons up by 6 late in the game.
This game showed how good the Pistons are. When they were down and playing terrible they came back and played great at the right time. Guys stepped up and gave them the chance to win.
Series Thoughts-The guy who had the biggest series for the Pistons was Rip Hamilton. He averaged over 23 points a game and hit a bunch of huge shots. Without him this series would have been a whole different story. Everyone in the NBA is saying that "Rip Hamilton is becoming a star right before our eyes". After a series like this it is hard to disagree.
Another guy who had a huge series was Tayshaun Prince. Most people would think he had a bad series because he was barely scored at all. He made up for it on the defensive end though. He stopped Ron Artest this entire series. He only allowed him to only have one good game. Most importantly was his game saving block on Reggie Miller in game 2. If he hadn't made that block the Pistons maybe would have been down 2-0 going back home. He also made some other key plays throughout the series.
Rasheed Wallace was kindof the X-factor in this series. Everybody will remember his game 2 garauntee when he said the Pistons would win. He was right and the Pistons did win but he only scored 10 points. He did however score 20 points in game 3 and 22 points in game 5(both victories). He played good at times and then bad at others. He will need to step it up as they go against the Lakers.
NBA Finals-The Pistons now look to the NBA Finals. This is the first time since 1990 that they have been to the Finals. They will go up against the Lakers. I am not sure if the Pistons can beat them but we will see. As of right now I want to enjoy this Eastern Conference Title. I will talk about the NBA Finals tomorrow.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals will be Sunday Night on ABC.
posted by Dan at
11:21 PM
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