I'm unsure what to think other than 'split' in Orlando.

No way is our bench going to play half as well on the road as they did @ home. Max has been amazing.

But Orlando is also probably not going to get that many FT attempts and Rip will likely play a hell of a lot better than he did the first 43:00 mins of game 2.

Game 2 was absolutely over early by the early 3rd if Rip is hitting his J's.

It is difficult to say. If Pistons can step on the Orlando's neck and pull out a W in game 3, then I think it should be over quickly, since Orlando's spirits will be broken. A lot depends on how the contact on Howard will be called.
Also, our bench mainly played a defensive part in the 2nd game. Their offense was just a small part of their performance, so I would expect them not to be any worse playing on the road, as long as they stick to their defensive principles. Don't know if Max can go 5-5 again, but if he's at around 50% shooting, I think Pistons will take it. And he will be active, that's what he does.

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I think the Washington Wizards have got to be the dumbest team in the history of civilization. - C.Barkley

or if orlando only hits 50 percent of there 3's.... rooting for a 50 percent shooting... but if thats all they hit were still up 10 after 3.

i like where were sitting... and i hope orlando talks alot today and tommorrow to help us keep focus.

Nelson and Evans get ten boards between them in game 2 and that gets them running and that gets them threes in rhythm. Take away the boards from the guards and you take away a significant part of their offense. Even if Howard gets them all instead, you will have forced passes in the backcourt and you will have forced the Orlando offense into half court sets that they don't seem to be able to execute worth a darn.

My two cents...

It's not the general whining. It's the damn whining about the shot clock. If the Pistons were on that side i would be a/talking about that stupid 3 pointer a player took (We all know it would be Sheed or Chaunce), b/ talking about our 60 turnovers c/ wonder why Chauncey is fouling off the damn ball and d/ live by the three, die by the three, and e/ injure myself somehow in frustration (or injure my remote).

I won't be sitting here saying we got robbed b/c of a shot at the end of the third quarter.

I have respect for Howard. He's the one person who was like we lost b/c of turnovers. We had the whole 4th quarter. That play didn't decide the game.

Good point

About the clock issue.

It is my understanding that the refs strictly followed the rules to make their determination. They didn't have the option to take points off the board and replay the 5 seconds. All they had leeway on was determining how much time should be left on the clock. Their options were anywhere between 0.1 seconds and 5.2 seconds. The more time they chose to leave on the clock, the more it would benefit Orlando. If they thought that the play took 10 seconds, then they would have to leave .1 on the clock, right?

I didn't hear many Orlando fans complaining about this rule before last night. Like most issues, nobody cares until it directly affects them.

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"I’ll just say this: We’re not talking to teams about their second- or third-best players." Joe Dumars talking about his plan to get other teams' 4th best players.

Anyone else remember a similar play that happened to the Pistons late this season? I don't remember which game it was, but there was a play where the Pistons were inbounding with about 5 seconds on the shot clock, and somehow the shot clock started about 2 seconds before they got it inbounds. The Pistons were confused and didn't get a shot off in time, and they immediately pointed out to the refs that the clock had malfunctioned. The refs UPHELD THE TURNOVER, which was absurd, but maybe it's the same rule. Obviously the rule should change; they should have put 5 seconds back on the shot clock in that case, and last night, they should have just given the Pistons the ball out of bounds again with 5.1 sec back on the clock.

I do remember that play. It sucked for us. The extreme example would be if the play clock started before the ball was inbounded and the buzzer actually went off before the ball was put in play. It would be ludicrous to let that play stand.

The NBA should probably visit this issue in the off season and come up with a fair solution. It is a difficult problem to solve, because there are so many what-have-yous.

Orlando got to see our play. What would have happened if they would have stolen the ball and made a shot themselves? Maybe if the clock would have been working properly, the Pistons would have shot the ball more quickly. Etc, etc.

If the clock starts too early, it is even more problematic. Players will freak out and shoot the ball wildly as they will be surprised when they glance at the clock.

It's giving me a headache thinking about this.

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"I’ll just say this: We’re not talking to teams about their second- or third-best players." Joe Dumars talking about his plan to get other teams' 4th best players.

I think the only fair solution is a do-over. Reset the clock to what it was before the ball was inbounded.