Miami Heat April 1st, 1:00 PM TV - ABC In the last few weeks the Heat have went from not being in the playoff picture to as high as the 3rd seed in the playoffs. At the time of this posting they are holding in the 4th seeded position. The Heat and Pistons collide at the Palace this afternoon. This is the third meeting bewteen these two, each winning once, both games were played in Miami. D-Wade has been practicing and is expected back in a week or so.
I think some one, I don't know who, will press firmly on Wade's shoulder as soon as he comes back. 98 to 88 Hurt them
According to Keith Langlois at Pistons.com, Rip has been suffering from a concussion for the last two weeks and is questionable for the Heat game. He may need a helmet to go with the mask.
That might make him the coolest player of all time! Having the flu AND a concussion could certainly affect a guys game.
4th quarter is fino time. i mean the guy is clutch. flip murray is back on my good side. i like the guy. great game by the pistons. i did not want to lose to miami without wade.
Game balls go to Rasheed, Rip, Delfino, and Flip Murray. Chauncey Billups showed why he's The Best Defensive Point Guard in The NBA, and Chris Webber showed why he's a power forward. Tayshaun Prince showed that he still can't solve a double-team.
BIG WIN FOR THE PISTONS! Their 4th quarter comeback was absolutely awesome, keyed by a 14-0 run with Dice and Fino playing huge. After a disastrous first quarter, the bench did a great job getting the Pistons back in it, particularly Flip Jr. and Lindsey, who actually played really well together in that quarter. Pistons kept it close in the third with Rip coming alive on a bunch of cuts to the basket, and after a terrible start to the 4th quarter, the huge run got them back in it. Down the stretch, Rip, CB, and Sheed hit 3 incredible clutch shots, and when Posey missed a wide open three, the Pistons wrapped it up at the FT line. Halfcourt trapping defense helped key the big run in the 4th, as the Heat got totally disoriented for a few minutes. Dale did a nice job bodying up Shaq in the 4th, as Flip Sr. left him in for crunch time after Dice fouled out. One major negative in this game was Webber trying to guard Shaq...an utter disaster. Gonna have to mix it up more on him. Still, I'm pretty thrilled with this win. Great production from the bench, getting them back in it from double digit deficits in both halves, and some excellent clutch play from the starters. Also, credit to Flip Sr. for getting a tech called on Posey--he pushed off after turning it over, and Flip went crazy running to midcourt to scream at the refs, which paid off in the tech being called.
Good win. Some may say it`s troubling because of a close game and no D-Wade. I say BS, a win is a win. The game would have been played totally different if Wade was playing and only God knows if it would have been a win or loss. Key moment in the game for me was at about the 3:35 mark of the 4th Q, Flip took Fino and Flip Jr out and put Tay and CB in. At the time I thought Flip has made a bonehead move, well it was a good one as both Tay and CB turned in a couple of huge plays in the final minutes of the game. I am sick and tired of these slow starts and brain farts at times during a game, only to come back. Not all the comebacks are wins!!! Anyway huge win, let`s kick the Pacers %%%%% on Tuesday!!
Now that was a fun game and Carlos showed today why he deserves a solid 15-20 minutes in the rotation for the playoffs. Tayshaun is just dog tired playing 40 plus minutes and on that skinny frame of his he's just not built to play so much. Rip will play himself back into game sharpness so I'm not worried about him. If the Pistons could learn to play better 1st quarters they would be downright scary. You got to believe that none of the Eastern teams want to tangle with Detroit in the playoffs which are geared to our strength. I love the grind it out defensive struggles and low scoring games anyday over the run and gun style in the West. Miami just doesn't have a go to guy in the crunch and Shaq is the only thing standing in the way of them having an early exit this year from the playoffs.
He looked out of it in the first half, but he got going in the third quarter by cutting to the hole without the ball and getting layups. He was great in the second half, and he played some good D on JWill, who was red hot for most of the game when he was torching CB.
