Nice win by the road warriors tonight. The Pistons were not going to let an undermaned Heat team steal a victory in the 4th qtr, like they did the last time they visited South Beach. Good time out by Flip to stop the bleeding at the 6 minute mark and then a three ball by CB at the 4 min mark to go up by 7 cemented the W.

Besides the defense, the key to the game surprisingly was the three ball even though the Pistons only took 12 of them. 5-12 for the Pistons and 0-10 for the Heat. They beat us in the paint as usual, but we got them on fast break points 27-12. Wade got his points, but not in crunch time. It was CB who stepped it up at crunch time after the bench came out flat to start the 4th. The bench did very good in the first half outscoring their's 14-0.

Just think, if not for those two losses to the Nets and the Knicks, we'd be in the midst of a 14 game winning streak and would be the Hottest team instead of the overachieving Nets.

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"Once you go Barack, you never go Bak" Mario Cantone 2008

Pat Riley blew up that team. Got a little greedy. Miami came into this season overrated and now they are exposed. They must be getting a little discouraged knowing they have such a slim shot at beating us in a series.

Nice road win, but its hard to get too excited, given how many players were out for the Heat.

The Heat are a totally different team with Zo, and White Chocolate has played well against us this year, getting to the rim at will.

Posey, their best 3 point shooter, was out as well.

A win is a win, but I think that's all this was. Not a "sending a message" game.

Workmanlike yet pretty win. The Heat now know they have a whole another level to catch the Pistons. Must be discouraging. They did miss Williams who could open up the floor but he also jacks up whatever. Zo can let Shaq play more quality minutes. But...Shaq really look slow and tired and I would have thought he would be up for this game. With Wade, we now know his game and what to expect. They are not out of it but they are starting to look like a longshot.

On our side, Tay is playing at a higher level than last year. And our D and D off of the bench is becoming a force to reckon with. Tonight it was Delk, the other day Dyss. Arroyo couldn't do what Delk did. The key to Sheed is keep him fresh. Keep him fresh. My only complaint, please keep Wade off of the boards!

It didn't do anything for the pistons, but it would have been huge for miami to beat us without key players in a close game.

Come on jammer, I want to get excited.

Nicely executed game for the Pistons. I think I recall nine turnovers in the first half, the final game stats show a total of ten, so, one in the whole second half. Taking care of the ball really makes a difference. So does 13 boards from Rip and Prince.

The Heat just aren't a very good defensive team, especially without Zo. TNT showed a graphic sometime along the way looking at what good games opposing shooting guards have against the Heat. Rip was near the bottom of the ranking at 22 PPG. Most of the higher scoring guards were averaging over 30.

I'm also continually amazed, especially in the second and third quarters, how often the Heat go for three, four, or even five possessions without Shaq touching the ball. Their offense seems to either go to Shaq or to Wade, without any structure that gets them both touches on the same play.

And I am loath to admit it, but I kind of liked Reggie Miller's in game analysis. I always in the hate Reggie camp, but he wasn't half bad.

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"But first, are you experienced? Or have you you ever been experienced? Well, I have."
Jimi

Reggie's analysis is decent. It certainly helps that he likes the Pistons so much!

I hate to admit it, but the game was close without any made Piston 3 pointers, and then in the second half, 'Sheed and CB opened the game up dropping bombs. One day I will get over these butterflies that come on when I see a contested three go up.

Tay was really great, I liked how he took it down into the post against Shandon Anderson (a really staunch defender), and kept working for his shot even when the double team came.

Here is the gameflow.

I think Derek Anderson could be an X-Factor for Miami. He didn't have a good game last night, but he's comfortable playing 1~3 and can hit the 3, pass, rebound. I almost wonder if he might have been a better fit than Delk. Mind you, Tony Buckets was the leading Pistons scorer at the half!

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They are the archetype for dominance. They are the gatekeepers of the conference. They are the Detroit Pistons.

I don’t know about you guys but our approach to the Heat seemed for the most part stade, business like and generally without passion beyond that of a typical Thursday night game.
Miami’s acceptance of the unfolding conclusion must trouble Pat Reily. Their lack of fight down the stretch seems to speak volumes as to how they may view their playoff chances against us. I won’t say the Heat rolled over, but in the closing minutes their leaders showed surprisingly little desire to compete.

mission accomplished.

Good win last night. With three players missing from the heat lineup, however, only one starter. We beat the heat with their full complement of players earlier this year therefore, it was not too much of a surprise that we won most convincingly.

The only thing that continually gnaws at me to no end is; CB pulling up for the three with so much time left on the shot clock. Last night he had Tay wide open down low, instead he went for the quick three. CB is the man though and I highly respect his game, in the playoffs he may curb his appetite on the very quick three.