random observations and opinions from what I saw (midway through the 2nd on):

maybe the worst thing that happened was sheed going off from the perimeter in the first quarter...because from then on we -- and not just sheed -- seemed to settle for jumpers, as though this was going to be an easy night.

the pistons seem to require a very precise amount of rest and i'm trying to figure out just how much that it is. we've heard endlessly about the starters being worn out. but here they get two nights off and rip is telling the reporter after the game that this affected his jumper. it must be hard to be an NBA player, you know, getting paid millions of dollars to do nothing but be fit and skilled whether you just played the night before or have had several nights off. i don't know about the rest of you, but it would be really hard for me to focus and do my job for only 8 million dollars a year.

i thought nazr looked pretty good, even rotated to draw a legit charge on one defensive play, hit some big buckets. dale also looked good, but the rest of the bench looked pretty lost out there and were certainly ineffective. chauncey too, as everyone has pointed out.

however, it appeared to me toward the end of the game that the pistons realized they needed to play defense and go to the hole more and when they did that, they closed the gap and took the lead (exceptions: cbill just missing a triple try, and rip making one, but they were both good shots I'd say). in this, the team looked remarkably like pistons of the past two seasons: playing to the level of the competition, looking for the path of least resistance until it becomes evident that they actually have to show up.

still, i'd rather them have won this game than lost it, because nj didn't particularly deserve the win either.

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