My Shtick though it that I always pick to the Pistons to win. But I was not very sure about this game. We just saw the Pistons lose so many games like this in the past. Typical winning streak type of win pulling it out in the end like that.
Just like in the PHX game. All the energy and momentum was on the opponents side and it looked like the other team truly thought they were going to win ( PHX more than POR ). Both teams must be shaking their heads and wondering what happened.

I would not worry about the bench. Two issues here.

1) I think Flip wanted to make a statement on the 1st West Coast trip. He talked about what a great opportunity it was to gell the team so its natural to expect that he would go with a shorter lineup.

I also wonder if its something like someone getting a new and more powefull car and wanting to show it off. Minni had some great teams but not as good as his Pistons. The West has been his home for his entire career.

2) Had to keep the streak alive.

He is having the same problem LB had with the frontcourt. These guys are so good you tend to play them more than you planned. But he will open up the bench more and will get Darko ready for the post-season as we do need a Center in the lineup.

Evans has been doing his job as a servicable backup its interesting how Delfino is starting to get into the rotation. I wonder if Delfino will start taking more and more of Evans mins.

No doubt. I was surprised how big Miles has become. 2 years ago, he looked more like Tayshaun than Randolph.

Miles has the same problem all young guys do. They wouldn't be in the league if they weren't talented, it's becoming a professional and developing consistency that makes some players great.

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A little Off topic... but I'm never sure about the reasoning for certain players getting PT this time of year... You never know if Joe & co. have a deal in the works... Dale Davis playing ahead of Darko may just be a matter of giving him a chance to get some burn.

Yes Miles is a surprise this year... we used to be able to give him space and play the drive... now he's developed a decent jump shot.

He did have a little luck posting up Tay... but I'll take those odds any day of the week.

Miles played great. have to keep in mind that the only games they had played were at home on the 5th, and the 9th so they were waiting for the Pistons last night.

Early fatigue had something to do with Miles and Randolph getting so many easy basketts. But the team locked things down in 4th when it mattered.

they killed us on the boards 43-30 they shot 50 to our 43 they had home-court, and they had a 10 point lead going to the half. we still managed to pull out a win mainly because of our defense shutting down portland to 33 second half points, and only 13 in the third quarter. we caused them to give up the ball 15 times while the pistons only turned it over 6 times. it was a sloppy win mainly because we had a pretty fast game with phoenix, and one of the assistant coaches was on the post-game show, and he said it took till about 3-4 in the morning for the team to get settled in the hotel, and that they had some sort of meeting with the players around 10-11 AM. after we get a lot of rest before our next game on tuesday against thee celtics we should win by a lot.

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"That's the end, man." Rasheed Wallace

that was a classic case of a veteran team beating an inexperienced one. We got outshot and outrebounded and still won the game. Pretty ugly but it's encouraging that we can still gut wins out like this one. I checked the stat sheet after the game because I felt from watching like we had been outplayed and wanted to see what the difference was. We committed 6 TOs to 15 for the Blazers.

I thought our D tightened up in the second half. Our offense looked too much like last year's-too much iso stuff and not enough movement. And we got hammered on the boards in the first half. But I agree we were playing on tired legs, especially Tay and Ben.

Chauncey and 'Sheed won this one for us. I thought 'Sheed came up huge in the fourth, both offensively and defensively.

we probably did bad offensively because of the late game the day before in phoenix, fatigue plays a huge part in games too. we did good defensively though.

From the Hoopsworld recap (their Portland guy loves the Blazers and has awesome inside connections).

Complete Article

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To all of my friends, comrades and companions at PF.com

Thank you for another great season!

i never knew rip was hurt.