use whatever nickname you want.

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Pretty good win by the Pistons. Tay set a new career high with a late 3 pointer. Also matched his career high in rebounds and had at least 6 assists. Rip should sit out more often...

Dice looked bad, Nazr played not too badly and Hayes didn't get much going.

A great win to start the season, totally beat up on the Wade-less Heat in the fourth Q.

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

Thank you for another great season!

Boxscore
NBA.com: Pistons at Heat Game Info


Recap
NBA.com Prince carries Pistons past Heat in opener, 91-80

One item of note is that JMax played big minutes in the second half after not playing much in the first. He was out there for Dice for most of the 4th quarter, maybe the entire period. JMax's numbers weren't all that big, but he definitely had a more positive impact on the game than Dice, and Flip stuck with him down the stretch as a result.

Didnt watch the game, just saw the box, what happened to cutting the starter's min?!

Nice to see you have a sense of humor so late at night.

Yep, got to love the unit that played most of the 4th. Hayes was hitting his shots in the 2nd half (better shot selection compared to the first half where he missed a few questionable shots), helping on the boards a lot, and not hurting us on D since Miami does not have a particularly quick small forward.


The backcourt was Billups and Prince in the 4th, our two scoring stars for this night. Of course Prince had his career game, 34 points and 12 boards. Billups was busting it inside most of the game and scoring at the line over and over.


And the bigs, my favorite combo, JMAX and Sheed. Sheed hit some threes, and did damage inside too. Between Sheed, Tay, and Billups, we ended up having one strong inside game after a very slow start in that regard. We were at the line all night, and conversely, Miami players, like Shaq, were on the bench in foul trouble all night.
Om all, this unit could score at will, and could barely be scored upon. And gee, we get Rip Hamilton to add to the mix tomorro night.
For Miami, Shaq was scoreless in the first half, only playing 11 minutes due to foul trouble. And they even called an offensive foul of his an offensive foul. Yep, really hard to believe. D. Wright did some damage early for them, and Ricky Davis heated up pretty good for a while (with Murray guarding him.)


Of note, something happened tonight that never happened last year. Mohammed scored in the post against a center. He actually decided not to fade on his shot, but instead just took it up strong and over Mourning. Well, thats once, lets see if its a pattern. Otherwise, Mohammed did ok around the boards, but did very little overall in a whole lot of minutes.


Flip Murray had a decent moment or two. One good defensive play. A drive in and score when he first came into the game. And one time pushing the ball up and dishing it off to an open shooter. But other than that, we just got poor D from him, poor ball handling, and several questionable shots.


Afflalo played solid D when in, which was about 12 minutes total. He came out due to foul trouble after 4 minutes of the first, and played maybe 8 minutes of the 3rd quarter. Afflalo hit one triple, and that is the only shot I remember him taking. The announcers mistakenly said he got out too late on the shooter once, but corrected that later showing the play from a better angle.


Tay played a ton in this one. He was our starting small forward, and our chief backup point guard. What a game. Inside all night, and then when we were well ahead he helped keep the lead with some hot outside shooting. Got to love that one sequence where we held the ball to run some clock and then Tay buried the 3.


JMAX missed a dunk or two that would have really made this game for him. Good D. Good active feet. He cut a guy off trying to drive the baseline on him and drew the charge. He made half his free throws, did not hit an outside shots. (I know he took one. Maybe that was all.)


Oh yeah, Dyess is on the team. Dyess limited his game to an occasional jump shot, and he made about 3 for the game. Him being in the starting unit makes the starting unit look bad. Our worst play by far was when Dyess and Mohammed teamed up to provide zero interior D. That was ugly, and fortunately short lived.

lee357, flint, mi

Oh, I'm a lot more humorous late than I am early.

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

Thank you for another great season!

Shaq is washed up and a non factor. The Heat will be lucky to make the playoffs even after Wade returns and the addition of Davis and Blount.

My guess for the year Shaq will average about 12-15 points and 6 or so rebounds. Not exactly the kind of numbers you want from your starting center.

Without Rip and with Stuckey and Amir still sidelined, I wouldn't expect there to be much relief for the remaining starters, who all logged big minutes. Flip Jr. playing 21 minutes while CB still logs 39 is not likely to be a frequent pattern.