Pistons win Eastern Title, now face Spurs in Finals
What a game! What a series! The Pistons were dominating down the stretch and were able to hold off the Heat to advance to the Finals for the second straight year. They will now face the Western Conference Champions San Antonio Spurs. It just doesn’t get any easier, first Shaq, and now Tim Duncan. First game is Thursday night on ABC, don’t miss it.
Here’s some articles about the game and the upcoming series…
These Finals are must-see - Yahoo! Sports article by Dan Wetzel
Detroit 88, Miami 82 (Recap) - Yahoo! Sports article by Chris Sheridan
Champs show their mettle - Freep article by Drew Sharp
Go West! Cold-bloodedly, Pistons eliminate the Heat - Freep article by Perry A. Farrell
My view: The two best “teams” in the NBA will square off in what could be another classic series. How the Pistons handle the speed and quickness of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. If they can stop penetration, it makes guarding Tim Duncan much easier. Rasheed Wallace will have to continue what he started in game 6 and play at a high level. He is the one Piston that creates major matchup problems because of his shooting range and quickness.
I also would like to give credit to Chancey Billups and Rip Hamilton. Both struggled early in this series, but both continued to play hard and eventually got on track. They will have to play at a high level for the Pistons to have a legitimate shot. Billups makes the Pistons go, and if he can control the tempo and Parker he can be the difference. He should be able to post Parker up anytime he wants and probably will quite often early in games.
My official prediction is Pistons in 6, but I know this is going to be a war.
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June 7th, 2005 at 9:59 am
What? No mention of how the Pistons only won because of the Heat injury problems? I wonder how many people are using that this morning, and for the record, Wade looked pretty damn good to me.
I already have my excuse ready for when the Pistons beat the Spurs. This time, however, it is not injury related. See, Brown and Pop are extremely close friends so I figure that, if the Pistons win, it wasn’t because we played better, but because Pop wanted to give his buddy Larry a retirement present.
Later!
June 7th, 2005 at 11:07 am
I thought Wade looked pretty good also. That’s why I was nervous, he had a great third quarter and looked like his old self.
If he wouldn’t have played at all or struggled more, we would probaby be hearing more of it. The fact is that Shaq and Wade were not 100% all series, but neither was Rip. In the end it all evens out and the best team won. End of story.