NBA: Game Fifen Post Mortem

Short recap: frowny face.

I've calmed down somewhat from last night when my only recourse was to throw things around in frustration. As I said before, it's panic time now. The Pistons are down 3-2 and, yes, that has happened every year for the past four years and they've managed to pull it off every time. But even if they pull this series out of the fire – and that's a very big if with the way Cleveland has been playing not to mention that the odds have to catch up with them eventually – they'd move on to the Finals exhausted to play a very game, very good, and very rested San Antonio team. The season is practically over. And probably the championship window for this team as it's currently construed. Free agency is going to gut this team over the summer, it seems, even though Billups has played himself out of a bigger paycheck.

But, yes, I'll be watching Saturday.

My sister reports that although her tickets were cheap and far enough up that they'd developed their own microclimate and instead of an usher she was guided to her seat by a sherpa, her view was pretty good. And it was, indeed, an awesome game to sit through. By the end everyone was holding their collective breath and wondering just who was going to the knockout punch.

I said going in that the Pistons needed Hamilton and 'Sheed to have big nights. Well, Wallace started off making big, key shots but he faded by the end. Hamilton looked like he might be ready to seal the game away in the 4th when he caught a bit of fire but the Cavs switched their line-up and stuck Snow on him and he never got that heat back. I also said Billups wasn't going to matter much, as the Cavs had him effectively defended into irrelevance. So, of course, he goes and makes some real clutch 3 pointers and free throws to send the game to overtime. But, then, he also couldn't make the shot to tie the game at the end of the second overtime.

Again, it was a game the Pistons could have had but the Cavaliers were better down the stretch. I wonder how much the McDyess ejection cost them, especially with two overtimes. I have to say, it was a flagrant but it looked like a flagant 1, to me, not a 2 and an automatic trip to the showers – combined with some other non-calls you have to wonder how much the fix was in here or if Commissioner Stern is angling for Cleveland to make the Finals. But, I don't think it was a decisive factor. The Pistons started strong and it was nice that they actually led after the half. But they didn't put the Cavs away in the 3rd. After that, it was time for the Bron-bron to take over. And, man, did he ever put that team on his back and carry them to a win.

I'm one of the ones who believes the comparisons to Jordan are ill-founded. The best match to James's talent and inclinations is Magic Johnson. You're talking about a guy who makes everyone around him better with his athleticism and passing and can, when needed, put up the points. Not the other way around. So, to me, James's performance reminded me of nothing so much as that one Laker game where Kareem went out and Johnson had to take over his spot and just went off. Criticisms over his Game 1 decision to pass the ball aside, James is showing that he can really close out a game this series.

Of course, here's what I was screaming at the TV the entire 4th quarter: “Put him on his ass! Foul him! Foul him for fuck's sake!” I'm still not sure why he was getting so many open lanes to the basket without taking a hack or two. And why sending him to the line – where he'd been struggling all night – wasn't a higher priority. The last play, however, where he managed the winning score was just sloppy defense. And I think it's because the Pistons just wore down over the course of the game. Which doesn't bode well for the future, does it?

And that's the scary part. The Pistons aren't playing horribly. They're not playing perfectly and, sure, there've been some boneheaded plays and coaching moves, but this isn't like the middle of the Chicago series where they're taking a nap on court and relying on veteran wiles to pull things out. They're actually trying to win. Throwing their best punches to make the Cavs stagger but Cleveland comes right back and throw their own. And it's the Pistons who're reeling. I'm still not sure how they're doing it with LeBron and a bunch of second-stringers and stiffs. But, again, the Pistons have been outplayed all series long.

Time to start watching baseball, I guess.