I posted in February that Sheed was going to make the Pistons a contender. From tonight, I would say that the Pistons are contending. When your best player goes bust and you still win on the road that says something.
Larry Brown is also a genius. People have been trying to stop Shaq and Kobe for 5 years and he just plays them straight up, lets them get 50 combined, and dares the others to beat them under solid D. These are the best playoffs that I can remember. I love it!

T A R H E E L S ! !

Go Brown!! Go SHeed!!

Let's hope they get 3 more!

I've been saying all season I would love a Pistons Lakers Finals. Pistons can for sure take them in seven. (I hope it will be 5 to win it at home)

To win game one on the road with only a combined finals experience of six games for the entire team?! Unbelievable!!

Go Stones!!

I don't know. The Lakers didn't play their best ball and it was all the Pistons could do to win. I say Lakers in 7.

It was all the Pistons could do to win? It wasn't a blow out but IMO it was a decisive victory. This was not a lucky win that the Pistons squeaked out. They built a lead in the 3rd quarter and maintained it. The Lakers never had a legitimate shot at the end.
All of this with your best offensive player (Hamilton averaging 21 ppg, 45% fg, and 4.3 assist to 2.9 turnovers) having a bad night (only 12 points on 5-16 shooting, 6 TO to 5 assist) and Rasheed, who is basically the #2 guy sitting most of the 1st half with foul trouble.
This was not a lucky win, but an amazing defensive effort against a team with many offensive weapons and a brilliant strategy of playing Shaq and Kobe straight up rather than doubling and giving the other players a chance to hurt you, which is basically the opposite of what everyone else in the NBA did and the Lakers were superb with a healthy starting 5.
I am not guaranteeing a Pistons championship, and I'm not even a Pistons fan per se, but this will not be an easy series for the Lakers if they can pull it out.

dany..... I couldn't agree more!

I am tired of listening to these "experts" saying the Lakers didn't show up. Kobe had 25 I think and Shaq had 34. I'd say that was a pretty good outing.

The Pistons focused on shutting everyone else down and making Kobe get his in 27 shots. Shaq is not going to shoot FT or 13 for 16 every game.

The Pistons D forced the Lakers into poor shots by pushing their triangle offense back and not letting them drive the lane.

Pistons clearly looked like the better team. We split the regular season with LA with a close game there and a thrashing here. Both without Rasheed. Good Night LA....

Lakers in 5.

Yup you hear it right here. LAKERS IN GAME 5

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mrandjr:
Good Night LA....<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

he he he that's a Counting Crows song.

The Lakers can still very easily win this series but its highly unlikely it will be in 5 games, rooting for your team is one thing but try and at least be realistic in the process smile.gif

I cant stand the lakers go Pistons ;)

GO Pistons!!

My Colts lost to the Champs in the Playoffs, so why not my Pacers too... LOL

As long as the East wins life is good at this point.

The East has definetly got to win! Its been way too long!

On another note...Boo Colts! ;)

Ktown! I wondered if you might post. I would have posted for Indiana but well you know.....

All I know is the series comes back to Detroit for 3 games. Not saying Detroit will win all 3 but it definately puts us in the drivers seat.

Tonight the key will be for the Pistons to weather the initial onslaught the Lakers will come out with in the first half. If the Pistons are within 5 at the half they will be going home with a 2-0 series lead.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Druss:
The Lakers can still very easily win this series but its highly unlikely it will be in 5 games, rooting for your team is one thing but try and at least be realistic in the process smile.gif<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm not a Pistons fan, I'm a Celtics fan. I still think that the Pistons are going to win. Everyone is afraid of the big bad Laker machine, and on paper the Lakers should win about 98% of the games they play. They have 4 Hall of Famers in their starting 5 and their second string of Fisher, Rush, Fox, Medvedenko, and even probably Walton would all compete for starting spots on a lot of NBA teams.
I'm sick of saying that the Lakers have no heart, no D, or whatever, because they do. There are some hungry guys on that team that really want this ring and will play hard and well to get it. Detroit, however, has sooooo much more heart and a very strong defense, and I still think at the end of the day the Lakers will find that Detroit has put in the time and work that LA has not since September.

Hats off to Kobe for a clutch shot.

I must say the game was awesome even though we lost. It just proves that Detroit is in the series for the long haul.

3 games at home I figure we will win 2/3 and have to finish the series in LA :( .

Still say Pistones win this series. Can't wait for thursday!

As long as the games are like that one I will watch every second!

That was a great game, the key was that even though they lost the Pistons held with LA for the whole game and didn't falter. You know Jackson made adjustments but the Lakers did just fine on their own.

I would say they need to win 2 out of 3 in Detroit to have a shot at the series, though if they keep playing in LA like they did last night it could go 7 and them having a great shot at it.