A well coached game. Three bench players were in the whole 2nd, and most of the 4th quarters. Rip maybe could have come out a bit earlier there, but hey he came out soon enough, and came back fresh enough to bury two clutch shots in the last minute, including a triple. Sheed had the clutch slam back, great timing on that. Billups started it all with his clutch midranger, abusing the short Nate Robinson. Not to mention he hit three triples to help get it tied up after we were down ten late 3rd. His second one beat the 3rd quarter buzzer.

Tay was tired too, and probably could have used some rest himself. He was missing his short jumpers and even missed both free throws late. But the Pistons were playing some great D out there with that unit. Another bench player, Dyess, finished this one up. A better defensive player vs. Webber, and the right guy for the job at the moment.

Dale Davis played quite a bit, and did a fine job guarding Curry, and getting several rebounds in his spare time.

Delfino had a pretty good 2nd quarter. Seven points, all inside, including posterizing Curry. But he missed a few outside shots.

Murray took a few ill advised shots here and there, but for the most part he made good decisions. He used some screens to make a couple of jumpers, got inside for the and one. As a team, the Pistons did very, very well with him in the game. He was in there as the 10 point deficit was erased, as well as being part of a 15-2 run mid 2nd quarter.

No Hunter, and so no pairing of Murray and Hunter. No Jason, but hey, Dale Davis was the right guy for the job tonight, and he got the job done.

Billups had an outstanding game, except for being a little lax on D at times on the quicker Nate R. As a team, we shot 1 for 10 on threes in the 1st half, with CB making the only one. Sheed continues to look for that elusive 100th triple.

Rip made some shots early, but NY did a very good job on focusing on him, limiting good shots for him. Then he came up big at the end.

We contained Curry quite well in the first half. We started out aggressively double teaming him, and then concentrated on just keeping the ball away from him completely. Third quarter though saw Curry get more aggressive, and that is a big reason we fell behind in that quarter. Somebody named Dale came along though and repaired that leak.

Webber is coming off an extended bout with the flu. He has got double doubles the last two games. Tonight he did a little bit of damage inside for us in the first quarter, and made a nice pass or two. He also got a few shots at guarding Curry. Curry is a load. You got to give anyone who spent time defending him, while Curry was not scoring, some credit. (Talking about the first qaurter only.)

Sheed did not do much really on O, but he was the primary defender on Curry, so he was still a good part of this win.

Four bench players got significant minutes in this game. And the starters are all healthy. And Hunter and Maxiell were available. Some pretty good depth going into the playoffs. The biggest problem I see is lack of a backup point guard.

With Orlando winning tonight, I think that about squashed NY's hopes for this season. Oh, and congrats to the Pistons on their 6th straight 50 win season. GO PISTONS!!!!!