NBA: Game Five Tonight

My sister - the other one - did indeed manage to score tickets. She's in the nosebleeds so it's not like she'll be on the TV or anything but, you know, I'm mad jealous right now.

Before we get to Game 5, here's a brief glimpse into how watching Game 4 felt for the average Pistons fan:

Yeah, nasty funk right in the face.

Now, am I worried about Game 5? Yeah, more than a bit. I'm not panicking yet, or writing the season off – that happens if they lose tonight, even though they pulled out from the 3-2 hole last season agaisnt a pretty similar Cavs team – but there's a palpable tension heading into tonight's game. Really, I'm regretting saying this would be a series over in, at most, five games. The Cavaliers are a lot better than I initially thought – I didn't even consider them the 3rd best team in the conference what with the troika of Chicago, Detroit, and Miami, I though the East champ would spring from. And it's not like the Chicago series where the Pistons shifted down a gear and dropped some games. The Pistons have been consistently outplayed in every game. They're lucky to be even. But, then, so are the Cavs because every game could easily have gone the other way. My main worry is that the Pistons have actually been trying and they're still coming up short. Especially in the 4th where they've blown the last two games. Of course, trailing at the half doesn't help either, but they've had strong 3rds and, normally, you'd think they'd close it out more often than not. But even though, as far as I can tell, they've been playing with determination and focus, it's the Cavs who've been clutch. Even in Games 1 and 2, they had a chance to win or tie at the end and that's just not a good sign.

The concern seems to be focusing on Billups. People and reporters saying he needs to pick up his game. But I think the Cavaliers are just a bad team for him to play against. It happens, there's just one team or set of match-ups that gives a player fits. In this case, I think it's the assortment of fast, athletic, and defensively adept guards that Cleveland can throw at him. Normally, Chauncy can post up the smaller guards and blow by the bigger ones because he's strong and fast himself, but I think, in this case, the defense is hectoring him just enough that he can't get in a groove. I'm less concerned with Billups putting up a ton of points and assists as I am with him cutting down on the turnovers and boneheaded plays. He can still contribute, he's just not going to be the one to carry the team. I've pretty much written his spot off for the series, otherwise. Rather, I think the key players are Hamilton and 'Sheed. Hamilton needs to pick up the slack from Billups. While Rasheed has to be Bizzaro Timmy again, he might not need to score a ton but he has to come through in the clutch. If he can, the Pistons can work the Cavs down low.

With home court advantage, that should be enough to pull out a win tonight. And, really, I think it's having home field in Game 7 that's going to win this series for the Pistons. If they win tonight then either they'll lose in Cleveland and still have another crack at it or the Cavs will tense up and the Pistons will be lose because they'll have home waiting for them and close out the series there. If they lose tonight, though, then all hell breaks loose.