[NBA.com]

Pistons past Heat
With their sixth consecutive win, the Pistons (61-14) moved three games ahead of the idle San Antonio Spurs for the best record in the NBA and home-court advantage throughout the postseason. Meanwhile, the Heat (49-26) now are just 2 1/2 games ahead of the surging New Jersey Nets, who defeated the Charlotte Bobcats, 113-102, earlier Thursday.

Are You There God? It's Me, Flea [Blog Excerpt]
... the pistons are so good because detroit needs them
god's gift to detroit is the pistons and aretha franklin and george
clinton and united sound and motown

[Miami Herald]

Pistons beat undermanned Heat
The Heat missed all 10 of their 3-point tries, were outrebounded 42-40 and had only their two stars manage more than six points.

Detroit won the season series 3-1 over the team it beat in last year's Eastern Conference finals, and has won nine of 14 matchups between the clubs since the start of last season.

Israel Gutierriez Blog: Fresh perspective
I thought Derek Anderson had great things to say about the Heat's troublesome patterns against the Pistons. Here's what he told me about whether or not Thursday's game meant something, if you didn't read it in the paper:

“You don’t just click it on and say, ‘Yeah, we can beat you when we want to.’ You’ve got to find a way of beating people and you have to change things .... I don’t know, from a coaching standpoint, what he would like to do. I can’t justify what I think is right either. But something has to be different when these guys continually beat us.”

[South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Heat is overwhelmed by Pistons
No, this Heat team is not good enough to defeat the Pistons. Then again, this Heat team isn't likely to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for a rematch.

Shorthanded, short from the 3-point arc and too short to contend with Detroit's length, the Heat fell 95-82 Thursday night at AmericanAirlines Arena to finish 1-3 in the season series against the Pistons.

Pistons 95, Heat 82
- Did the Heat go for the wrong former Kentucky Wildcat at the trading deadline, taking Derek Anderson from Houston instead of Tony Delk off the waiver wire?

- If Michael Doleac can't defend in the paint, and makes taking charges the key to his interior defense, then why not more of Wayne Simien, who at least stands as a threat on the opposite end?

- Antoine Walker made his 12th start, but hardly displayed the wherewithal to succeed at this level, shooting 3 of 11 with just four rebounds.

Skolnick: Heat's offseason acquisitions haven't caught fire this season
The idea was to become more versatile offensively, less reliant on the two superstars .... The idea was to diversify enough to keep rolling if Wade or Shaquille O'Neal got injured .... The idea was to acquire a more consistent, dangerous, fearless third option, to present more challenges to other contenders, specifically Detroit. Yet, Thursday the team lost for a third time in four tries to the Pistons, dropping to 2-12 against division leaders, down from 5-7 last season.

So, so much for all those ideas.

[Detroit News]

Intense Pistons smother Heat
"It's like playing poker, you don't want to show your hand too early," [Saunders] said before the Pistons executed a convincing 95-82 victory Thursday night over the rival Miami Heat in front of a sold-out house at AmericanAirlines Arena.

"On the other hand, once the game starts and we see 'Miami' across the front of their jerseys and they see 'Detroit' across ours, the competitive juices start flowing."

[Detroit Free Press]

Detroit 95, Miami 82: Grace under fire
One thing the Heat must solve is the Tayshaun Prince riddle. Prince scored 20 for the Pistons on Thursday.

"He's their biggest problem in playing against us," Billups said. "He's a nightmare. He's a matchup nightmare."

Pistons Corner: Is MVP best player, or from best team?
"I think it should be the best player in the league," Billups said. "And I think Kobe Bryant is the best player in the league. That's the way I always looked at the MVP award."

Lately, Milicic's play has been respectable
Tonight will be just another chapter in one of the most bizarre NBA draft tales ever. The way this deal has gone, we can expect Darko to score 30, and the Pistons to win by 40, which would prove Dumars right and wrong, all at once.

[Detroit News]

Intense Pistons smother Heat
"It's like playing poker, you don't want to show your hand too early," [Saunders] said before the Pistons executed a convincing 95-82 victory Thursday night over the rival Miami Heat in front of a sold-out house at AmericanAirlines Arena.

"On the other hand, once the game starts and we see 'Miami' across the front of their jerseys and they see 'Detroit' across ours, the competitive juices start flowing."

Pistons Notebook: Heat have somehow avoided a fine mess
Rasheed Wallace, coming off a one-game suspension for reaching the limit on technicals, could only shake his head that those comments went unpunished. "That goes to show you who's running the league," he said. "Let me say something like that and they would probably try to blackball me out the league again."

... "I told you all (that he could play) but you didn't want to listen," Rasheed Wallace said of Milicic. "You all thought I was full of it. But I told a lot of people that all Darko needed was some time and he couldn't get it here because he was playing behind me, Dyess (Antonio McDyess ) and Ben (Wallace). Darko is all right."

Chauncey Billups, sitting a couple of chairs over, said with a laugh, "I wish we would have played Darko instead of you."

To which Wallace replied, "Yeah, and I wish we had Chris Paul as our point guard."

[Detroit Free Press]

Detroit 95, Miami 82: Grace under fire
One thing the Heat must solve is the Tayshaun Prince riddle. Prince scored 20 for the Pistons on Thursday.

"He's their biggest problem in playing against us," Billups said. "He's a nightmare. He's a matchup nightmare."

Pistons Corner: Is MVP best player, or from best team?
"I think it should be the best player in the league," Billups said. "And I think Kobe Bryant is the best player in the league. That's the way I always looked at the MVP award."

Lately, Milicic's play has been respectable
Tonight will be just another chapter in one of the most bizarre NBA draft tales ever. The way this deal has gone, we can expect Darko to score 30, and the Pistons to win by 40, which would prove Dumars right and wrong, all at once.

"For these three years they killed almost everything in me," Milicic said, referring to the Pistons. "I never got a chance to play. I'd work every morning knowing that I wouldn't get a chance to play at night. That was a killer."

"... It was tough, but I learned through it and now this is the best for me," he said. "... It was a nightmare for me, knowing every night that I wasn't going to play. I'm happy I'm out of there."

A Few Sheedisms For Thought

For those of you who don't get to catch many games in person I would like to point out a few things that the camera sometimes misses.

Rasheed has a new habit of wearing two headbands during warm-ups one placed normally and one a bit askew, that he takes off before tip off.

Rasheed Wallace on Quite Frankly With SAS UPDATE

Rasheed Wallace on Quite Frankly With SAS UPDATE
I just received an update email for the Rasheed Wallace's appearance on Quite Frankly.

Friday, April 7th at 11pm ET

Set your TiVo's we are only hours away from our Need4Sheed.

The Heat Not Hot Enough For The Detroit Pistons

How do you beat a team that has five of its players in double figures? For the Heat the answer is, you don't. The Pistons beat the Heat in Miami 95-82, and are now three wins away from breaking the franchise single-season win record. Tayshaun and Sheed both scored 20 in the Pistons win at Miami. Rip added 19 and Chauncey struggled a bit going 4-10 with 14 points.



Arroyo, Milicic face ex-team
The 2 former Pistons are playing key roles in the Magic's 2nd-half turnaround.
by Brian Schmitz

Armed with the NBA's best record, the Detroit Pistons are heading into another championship chase. Armed with college scouting reports, the Orlando Magic are heading toward another draft lottery.

In the football vernacular, maybe their meeting tonight at TD Waterhouse Centre passes as the Magic's "bowl game."

Mostly, game No. 75 carries emotional significance because of Carlos Arroyo and Darko Milicic. They will face the Pistons for the first time since they were traded by Detroit a day after Valentine's Day.

Neither player left brokenhearted.

The Magic have a good vibe going and trace it to the acquisitions of Arroyo and Milicic on Feb. 15.




Pistons' message: No Wade
by Chris Perkins

MIAMI — There's one certainty about a Miami Heat-Detroit Pistons game — as long as the Heat has guard Dwyane Wade, it has a chance to win.

So in another emotionally charged matchup between the teams most consider the best in the Eastern Conference, the Pistons again took Wade away from the Heat in the fourth quarter — and with him Miami's chance for victory.

Detroit defeated Miami 95-82 Thursday at AmericanAirlines Arena to take the season series 3-1. It was also the second time this year Detroit has held Miami to 82 points, its second-lowest total of the season.

"When we play this team we just have to do everything right," said center Shaquille O'Neal, whose team has now lost five of its past nine games.

[Detroit News]

Orlando ends Pistons' win streak
"We wasted the first half. We came out in the second half and tried to fight and claw to get back into the game. Once we got back into the game, they made big plays," Ben Wallace said. "When you play like that sometimes it gets you in the end. This was one of those nights."

Hamilton misses game in Orlando after death in family
Hamilton flew home to Tulsa, Okla., for the services directly from Miami, where Detroit beat the Heat 95-82 Thursday night.

[Detroit Free Press]

Magic 89, Pistons 87: Conjuring up twists, reunion
Pistons coach Flip Saunders said that both Wallaces told him they couldn't go in the final minutes.

After the game, Ben Wallace said he's not injured. Rasheed admitted he felt some back spasms but said he'd be good and ready to see the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.

Pistons Corner: Milicic reborn in Orlando
He has a smile almost every day, and just his game speaks for himself," said Carlos Arroyo, his Magic teammate and fellow former Piston. "You can tell he's having a great time."

[Orlando Sentinel]

Staying alive: Nelson's late baskets give Orlando slim playoff hopes
Nelson's 20-foot jump shot tied the game at 87 with 42.4 seconds left. It was his first basket since he made a lay up with eight minutes, 26 seconds left in the opening quarter.

Then, Nelson, 5 foot 10, made a difficult 12-foot fade-away over the long arm of 6-foot-9 Tayshaun Prince with 6.5 seconds remaining for the deciding basket.

[NBA.com]

Patriots top Dazzle before record crowd
fter holding a double-digit lead for most of the game, the Fayetteville Patriots almost let it slip away before settling down and closing out the Roanoke Dazzle, 115-106, in NBA Development League action at the Crown Coliseum Friday night. The Patriots marked the final home game of the season by celebrating Fan Appreciation night and Erik Daniels didn’t disappoint the record number of fans, posting 27 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and handing out six assists.

Acker finished with 23, Johnson had 19 and Rickert hit for 18. Both had a pair of blocks and Rickert had a pair of steals as well.

[Fayetteville Observer]

Decision time nears for the Patriots
“We’re moving the revenue needle a little bit, and we’ve drastically reduced our cost factors from year one of the operation,’’ DeMoss said. “But you’re still looking at a business plan that’s running at a loss. So they (D-League) have to look at it from the standpoint of what is their tolerance for loss and how much more can they move the revenue needle.

“I think a local owner could do that (increase revenue) probably more dramatically than I can.’’

[Booth Newspapers]

Darko and Magic top Pistons, 89-87
Former Pistons Carlos Arroyo and Darko Milicic became the latest ex-Detroit players to exact some type of revenge against their former team, as both played well against the Pistons - and even more significant, they helped the Orlando Magic hold on for an 89-87 win.

"I didn't think it was going to be kind of weird, but it (was)," said Arroyo, who had 10 points and two assists. "I love those guys and I miss them. They were great teammates."

Pistons Notes
Arroyo's floor game was instrumental in the Magic holding on for an 89-87 win over Detroit. In addition to a solid floor game in the first half, Arroyo also came up with a couple of huge plays - a jumper and a steal which led to a lay-up - in the fourth quarter.

Thoughts on DPOY
I think too many people focus WAY, WAY too much on steals and blocked shots when they think about the best players on defense. I also take into account how well a team limits opponents scoring, along with how well they limit opponents shooting from the field.

If you have a dominant player who stands out defensively, and his team plays great defense, chances are his play has something to do with his teammates also being solid defenders. That's why, for me at least, this is going to once again come down to Ben Wallace and Bruce Bowen.

[Detroit Bad Boys]

More Miami aftermath; inflatable Ben is everywhere!

[Need4Sheed.com]

New Rasheed Wallace wallpaper;
Wallace Foundation Gala & Auction honoring Joe Dumars April 21

[Believing in Magic]

Deja vu: Magic pull out another close one in beating Detroit
This is the second game in a row in which the Magic won the game in the final minute as they beat Milwaukee on Wednesday. Not only that, but this is the third game in a row in which the Magic have beaten a playoff-caliber team. Last Friday, they beat the Dallas Mavericks.

[The Sporting News]

The real question: Can Miami's D stop Detroit?
It seems that folks consistently ask the wrong questions. How will the Pistons stop the Heat's offense? What will they do with Shaquille O'Neal? How can they contain Wade? Will they double-team? Will they use a zone? Doesn't matter. The question that should be asked: How can Miami's defense slow down the Pistons?

.... Wade has been very poor defensively. The Pistons took advantage of it Thursday.

Cheery Darko faces old friends
by DANA GAURUDER

ORLANDO, Fla. - Darko Milicic has spent the past six weeks ripping Pistons management and coaches for not playing him. But he holds no grudges against his former teammates. In fact, he wants them to hoist another championship banner.

"When I get a chance, I check on what's going on in Detroit," said Milicic, who was traded to Orlando in February. "They're a great team. Š I liked to be around the guys. They're a bunch of good guys in Detroit. That's why they have the best record in the league. I'm wishing for another championship, because they deserve it."


Sluggish Pistons fall to Orlando
by DANA GAURUDER

ORLANDO, Fla. - Viewers of the latest Pistons game might have thought they were playing an exhibition Friday night.

Richard Hamilton was not in the lineup. Darko Milicic played during the fi rst quarter. Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace didn't play in the closing minutes of a tight game while Dale Davis and Jason Maxiell filled in under suspicious circumstances.

The oddest twist of all came in the end. The downtrodden Orlando Magic beat the mighty Pistons, 89-87, at the TD Waterhouse Centre. Detroit trailed by 15 at halftime, rallied to take the lead in the fourth quarter, then lost on a 12-foot fadeaway by Magic guard Jameer Nelson with 6.5 seconds remaining.




Nelson's helps keep Magic hot at home
by KEN HORNACK

ORLANDO -- It might have come too late in the season for it to really matter.

It might have come at the expense of Hedo Turkoglu.

And it might have come against what could qualify for a split-squad version of the Detroit Pistons.

But the Orlando Magic weren't about to be too picky Friday night after Jameer Nelson's 12-foot fallaway jumper over Tayshaun Prince with 6.5 seconds remaining gave them an 89-87 victory, their ninth consecutive win at the TD Waterhouse Centre.




Magic Nip Pistons; Turkoglu Injured
by Dick Scanlon

ORLANDO -- Hedo Turkoglu was carried off the floor Friday night after the Magic's 89-87 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

But it wasn't because of his heroics. Turkoglu made 10-of13 shots and scored a gamehigh 26 points for the Magic, who won their ninth straight home game before a sellout crowd of 17,283.

When the game ended, Turkoglu was lying face-down on the floor, having injured his right knee. It dampened the celebration of the Magic's biggest victory in a long time.


Pistons' Delk Soars
by MARC LAZZARE

ORLANDO -- The Detroit Pistons were feeling the effects Friday night of not having star shooting guard Rip Hamilton, who missed the game against Orlando because of an illness in the family.

Still, the Pistons may have found a diamond in the rough through the shooting stroke of Tony Delk. Despite missing two potential game-tying free throws, Delk finished the night with 18 points.

"It's definitely good to see Tony getting comfortable out there," said Chauncey Billups. "We were missing guys tonight, so it was important for other guys to step up. I thought Tony played great for us tonight."
.