Indiana December 29th, 8:00PM
TV - FSN (Local) NBALP


The Pistons get to avenge their only loss in the last 8 games as the Pacers come to town. Al Harrington (16 ppg, 6.4 rpg) is playing well alongside O`Neal (18.7 ppg, 10.2 rpg).

Pacers vs. Pistons is usually an entertaining affair, and this game should follow that script. One interesting note; 30 games in and the Pacers are actually healthy!! Tinsley and O`Neal have a missed a game here and there, but the usual 30-40 game stint from either or both of them hasn`t happened, yet.

Look for a low scoring game in the low to mid 80`s for a final score.

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"I`m shocked" The Low, on the Pistons game 2 win in the ECF at Boston.

After the triple OT thriller against the Knicks, I guess nobody cares about this game.

I will be looking to see how tired the Pistons are (they really shouldn`t be at all) and how Flip plays his bench. The Pacers always get up to play Detroit. We could be looking at a two game losing streak here.

Chat is open!

http://www.pistonsforum.com/misc.php?do=flashchat

Nice to see George and Greg gushing about the 50 pt game. Nevermind the loss. Nevermind the fact that showing all of the Piston players in history that have scored 50 also shows you a list of Pistons teams that never had a remote opportunity for a Championship.

The points are ALL that matter. So Exciting.

My guess is that the Dolphin will place Delfino on the IL after tonight.

Then run into Joe D's office and slam the door, "It's either him or me, Joe!....HIM OR ME!"

If that`s not a cramp CB suffered, and Sheed is hobbling............hmmmmmm this could get real interesting..........

How many character building games do the Pistons need? This one almost went to overtime and I'm not going to say one bad word about Delfino fouling Armstrong on the last play of the game. He was trying to be aggressive and stop a basket and it just wasn't happening. His techinical by the way (throwing the ball against the stancion in front of the ref) is what gets him the flyswatter award tonight. I sure hope Chauncey's all right, maybe all that bad karma of us talking about trading him. Now we'll see for a couple of games what it's like not having Mr. Big Shot running things. I predict it's not going to be pretty and Phoenix will be in town on Sunday.

Terribly frustrating loss tonight. I can't believe we can't beat these guys.

Pistons started horribly out of the gate, down 12-2, even though Nazr was playing well and even blocked a couple of shots. Pistons responded with a big run to tie it, and with JMax and Delfino playing the last few minutes of the quarter, they even pulled ahead by 10. The Pistons' lead extended to 15 in the second quarter, as the Pacers really struggled on offense, but they went on a massive run and actually went into halftime up 1. The bench played extremely well in the first half, 19 points off the bench, led by Delfino.

Rip got his 4th foul early in the 3rd quarter, so Flip came in and played the rest of the quarter. Pistons had no ball movement whatsoever, couldn't make any shots, nothing...a disastrous stretch that got them down 14, as they scored only THREE points in the first SEVEN MINUTES of the quarter. JMax hit a couple of jumpers and helped spark another Pistons run, and when Chauncey banked in a halfcourt shot at the buzzer, the Pistons were only down 3.

Fourth quarter was back and forth for the first six minutes or so, a big change from the game of huge runs that it had been up to that point. Then there were a few mini-runs: Pacers 4-0, Pistons 6-0, Pacers 5-0. That Pistons run was keyed by a huge JMax rejection on Jermaine. Down 6 with 2 minutes left, Dice missed two free throws, and even Chauncey missed a free throw, but somehow the Pistons were within 4 and had the ball with a minute left. Then Rip drove into 3 defenders and turned it over, so now it really looked like it was over. But the Pistons were still down 4 when they got it back with 30 seconds left, and Chauncey hit a 3 from the corner...only to go down with some sort of cramp or charlie horse that took him out of the game. Pistons got within 2 with 8 seconds left after Granger missed a free throw, and Rip drove into the lane, drew an incredibly stupid foul by Jackson, and tied it from the line with 3.5 seconds. So, overtime, right?

Nope. Pacers threw it down the court, the ball was tipped in the air, and Darrell Armstrong picked it up along the baseline. Delfino, running in from midcourt, WENT FOR THE PUMP FAKE, and barrelled into Armstrong on his way down. DA actually missed the first FT, but he made the second to win the game. Delfino did have another good game overall, but man, that was one of the worst fouls ever committed.

Pistons were just too inconsistent tonight, and they killed themselves with some really bad turnovers. The bench brought some good energy and production, but it wasn't enough in the end.

not delfino's fault flip never should have taken him out. flip just feels tayshaun and rip have to finish the game. rip was hogging and wasn't hitting shots. i do however like the hard foul delfino gave him after armstrong got him up in the air.

bball jay, geez man. I don't know how Delfino walks straight with you blowing all that sunshine up his tooshie!

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