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These two teams are probably going to be facing off in the Eastern Conference finals, so it will be interesting to see how they look going into the last couple of weeks of the season.
Richard Hamilton is money coming off a screen with no one in his face as he hits one 40 seconds into the game. I'm surprised the points don't go up on the board before he even gets the shot off.
The Pistons are probably the best team in the league at tipping offensive rebounds out to teammates.
A Shaq layup puts the Heat up 12-9 with 5:54 left in the first quarter, timeout Pistons.
Shaq has shot more hook shots in this first quarter than I've ever seen him shoot in my life.
Shaq picks up two fouls in the first quarter and has to sit down with 1:19 left in the first quarter.
Odd play: Dwyane Wade drives to the hoop, gets tripped and loses the ball, then slides through the lane on his stomach and recovers the ball. He then proceeds to roll the ball out of bounds.
The first quarter comes to an end with the Heat up 21-19.
Early second quarter and the Heat are up 25-19 and they've done the majority of their damage in the lane, taking it right at the Pistons' bigs.
I'm surprised to learn that Rasheed Wallace averages less than seven rebounds per game.
Alonzo Mourning goes down with ten minutes left in the half, forcing Shaq to come back into the game with two fouls.
A Udonis Haslem dunk off an amazing feed from Dwyane Wade puts the Heat up 27-19.
It's good to see Shaq actually run out and help on pick and roll defense. His inability to do that in the 2004 Finals with the Lakers won the championship for the Pistons.
The Heat go up 12, 35-23 with 6:39 left in the half off a three from Jason Williams.
I love how listening to Bill Walton makes me feel like I know so much about basketball. Early in the game he comments on how great Shaq's balance and footwork is. Then just a few minutes later after a Shaq travel, he completely contradicts that statement by saying the complete opposite. Great stuff.
I still don't understand the whole stockings/tights/pantyhose thing.
Rasheed Wallace's tattoo on this arm is great. I wish more guys made it into art, not just something that looks cool or hip at the time.
Chauncey Billups has six assists in the first half.
A very, very late call is made on a charge against the Heat with 58.6 seconds left in the half and Miami is up 41-33. Calls like that bother me.
Rasheed Wallace missed three ends the first half with Miami leading 43-35.
Dwyane Wade really is a good defensive player, as I write this, he harasses Richard Hamilton into a missed jump shot early in the third.
A Shaq running hook puts the Heat up 47-35. Shaq's post moves look so much better than they did just a few years ago. But maybe that's because all Shaq did a couple of years ago was get dunks.
I'm surprised that this Miami Heat team has gone the whole season without a major incident, other than the Pat Riley coup d'etat.
The Pistons come roaring back, getting the crowd into it. Chauncey Billups hits a pull-up three in transition bring the Pistons within three at 51-48 with 5:00 left in the third quarter.
Wade answers back with a three of his own to put the lead back up to six.
Shaq doesn't have the power that he used to. Two or three seasons ago, whenever Shaq would come down with an offensive rebound, he would go back up and dunk it with so much emphasis that it would clear out the entire lane. Tonight, he's having trouble just getting a shot off after he comes down with a rebound.
I'm starting to understand the whole "Fall down seven times, get up eight" campaign Converse is running for Dwyane Wade's shoes, because he falls down a lot.
With about two minutes left in the third, Detroit ties the game at 54 off a mid-range jump shot from Hamilton. But right back down the court, Wade answers with a long two.
Shoe alert: Richard Hamilton is wearing white, blue, and red Air Jordan XIV's.
A Billups freethrow puts the Pistons up one, 60-59, at the end of the third quarter.
Antoine Walker hits three 1:30 into the fourth to put Miami up 62-60.
Antoine Walker uses the hit stick on Lindsey Hunter with 9:45 left, but gets called for an illegal screen.
The Pistons' bench is very weak. That may be their fatal flaw in the playoffs. With the exception of Antonio McDyess there isn't a lot there.
A Tayshaun Prince layup with 6:10 left puts the Pistons up 68-64.
Again Prince scores, hitting a fade away to make it 72-66 with 4:59 left.
Maybe the way the Pistons tip out offensive rebounds to guards is why Rasheed doesn't average a large number of rebounds.
Tayshaun Prince is scoring at will against the Heat defense. He knocks down Wade and dunks the ball to put the Pistons up 76-68 with 2:13 left.
Walker immediately air balls a three pointer out of a timeout. Not much you can say about that other than the shot sucked.
Rasheed then puts in a runner to get the lead to ten, 78-68 with less than a minute left. That should be the dagger.
The Pistons outscore the Heat 22-14 in the fourth quarter to win by a score of 82-73.
So the power balance in the east doesn't shift very much, but I think that this Pistons team isn't as strong as it was earlier in the season. They've got a great starting five, probably the best I've seen since Michael Jordan's Bulls teams. But their bench is very thin. One injury at any position could spell doom for this team.
The Heat looked like a great team for three quarters, but fatigue seemed to set in, probably from playing two games in two nights. Alonzo Mourning's injury could be a problem for this team in the playoffs if it bothers him for a significant time. Shaq can't play every game in the playoffs for 45 minutes like he did on Wednesday. I'm not sure how much Dwyane Wade's wrist was bothering him, but a couple days of rest and it should be alright.
NCAA tournament kicks off again on Thursday. Expect another post sometime this weekend. Enjoy the basketball.
