this was one of Chauncey-making-his-boy-look-good games....Jimmy Crickets...Marbury????/

delfino is the man. i called the 3. i want everyone to remember that. i called the 3 to make it go into the first ot.

I couldn't watch this one, or listen to it on the radio, because I now live on the F$#$in' West Coast. However, thanks to diligent typing by the Professor, Dlev,D4E, and others, I was able to read a thrilling play by play in game chat.

1 minute breakdown:

Career high scoring for Rip, nice hustle by 30mill, a 3 by Delfino to take the game into the first overtime, three more overtimes, Nazr wins all the tips, Tay gets a couple of blocks... exciting stuff. Lots of (missed) 3 point attempts by Mr. Big Shot may have cost the Pistons the game.

Wish I could have seen it.

__________________
"Eastern Conference regular-season champs, baby," said Chauncey Billups. "This is what we set out for when we started the season in training camp. We did it and we're happy." (2003)

Well that was the craziest Pistons game since the 3 OT loss to the Nets in the playoffs...Knicks won this one 151-145 in 3 OTs. Pistons choked away some chances at the end of regulation, especially a MISSED DUNK by Sheed, but Delfino hit a 3 in the last 5 seconds to sent it to OT (as the idiot Knicks didn't use their foul to give). Billups ended up as the escape goat, dribbling the clock down like a moron at the end of the first OT before bricking a 3, missing a FT at the end of the 2nd OT to allow Frye to tie it at the buzzer, missing another 3 in the next OT, etc. Really a terrible game for him. Crawford went insane in the last OT, hitting a bunch of ridiculous running jumpers with defenders all over him. Too bad Rip's career night was wasted...he went for 51! Good games for Nazr, Dice, and Delfino as well.

Hey I can`t take the credit for the play by play because I was reading as you were bro. I was unable to watch this game also, and thanks to everyone who was watching especially the Professor and D4E, I too got the chat play by play, which was great.

I hope I don`t have too be in chat without watching again.........

That was a fantastic game and would have been one for the ages if the Pistons had won it. Hard to believe the Knicks are a bottom feeder team after the way they played tonight. Do all teams just play their best games against the Pistons? Why don't they play that way against the Heat as well? Chauncey and Rip just ran out of gas and I'm not going to second guess Flip but does he have such a lack of trust in his bench that he won't let Maxiell and yes even Flip Murray get some needed burn in the crunch? I'm glad Delfino showed he can hit the big shot but fresh legs might have won that game before it went into 3OT.

Fixed it. Hopefully we can both watch the next one!

Sheed with an absolute monstrosity of a game. Give some of his minutes to Max.

I am emotionally drained from watching this one. A lot to remember. Here goes. First, Rip scored 51, most of it in regulation. Rip has all the sudden added the drive and pull up to his arsenal big time. He is shooting with range. He is driving in. He is just shaking people off. Still the occasional hitting one off a pick. Pretty amazing. Just not quite enough tonight in this triple overtime Piston loss.

Mohammed had a decent game. He scored out of the post several times, which the first time this year I can say that. Still, our middle is soft, and Marbury racked up about 40 points coming right down our gut. Mohammed played most of the OT's since Sheed fouled out. He scored a couple of big hoops, and got 4 straight key points at one time. And about 14 boards or so.

For them, first Marbury, then Crawford had big games. Channing Frye hit the big shot for them to send it into the third overtime. Oh, and Curry was huge for them in the first half with 21 points. All in all, NY is showing it has a very talented group of players, and whats scary is Zeke has them playing some pretty good team ball.

Billups flat out stunk late, missing a ton of shots, and committing those fouls that let them get back into the game when the game seemed sewn up for us. And he missed a clutch free throw that would have sealed it. Oh well on that, he can't be perfect, but he could have let someone else shoot the ball or drive in. More next post. This is going to take a while.

Flip Murray barely played in this one. Four horrible minutes where he could not hang onto the ball, and the one time he did, you got it, called his own number and missed badly. Delfino got to play the whole 2nd quarter, and half the 4th quarter. And most of the OT's since Sheed fouled out. Even with Delfino though, I am not fond of small ball, especially with Mohammed as our only big.

Delfino hit his first 4 shots, and then sent the game into the first overtime with a triple. And he did his usual fine defending and rebounding.

Maxiell did not play in the 2nd half nor in any of the OT's. Not a whole lot from him, but I must say he came on with Flip Murray so that is not fair to him.

Dale Davis played plenty, as Mohammed only played about 5 minutes in the first half of the game. Davis played something like 12 straight minutes from early in the 1st quarter until several minutes into the 2nd quarter. He also played the end of the 3rd quarter and I think the beginning of the 4th quarter. But never in OT. No comment on that or anything else about the rotation since, hey, with a little smarter play from Billups in the 2nd OT we win this one. Still, I do wonder if a little bit of energy from either Maxiell or Davis might have helped a bit.

Several players, Rip, Tay, and Billups I am sure, ended up with over 50 minutes after getting around 40 last night. Talk about some fatigue. Considering this, no way will I be at all harsh on any of these 3 about how they did late in the game.

Blalock played. His 2nd half stint went just a bit longer than usual, but Saunders still won't loosen up and let him get more playing time in the 3rd quarter. Billups needs the rest. The game is not won in the 2nd quarter. Let the kid play.

Dyess had a pretty good game. He played the whole 4th and ended up with a double double I believe and about 15 points. Best game of the year for him, but like Delfino's best, and Rip's best, it was all wasted. (and I'd say Mohammed's best too.) Quite a game. The Pistons are still on a pretty good tear despite the loss. GO PISTONS!!!!!

PS, I can't even remember at this point a whole lot about how Sheed or Tay did. Just drawing a blank.

I certainly will. Heading home tomorrow from Atlanta. My brother in law is a football fan. He has The NFL Ticket, but no League Pass................