blogsketball

On the verge of getting up off my ass and actually playing some basketball, I stopped on TSN before turning off my TV and saw the pregame pep-talk. Was it by Mr. Colt 45 himself, Billy Dee Williams? I’m not sure. Either way, TSN thought it would be a good idea to show Canada’s newest basketball-playing citizen, Mr. Samuel Dalembert, and his Philly Sixers taking on the Detroit Pistons in Motown.

Before we get into this game, a few things on the Lakers and their lopsided win over the Denver Nuggets.

- The Lakers fans were all over Melo and the Nuggets in an ugly way. DUI chants at Melo, cheering when Denver players got hurt. It was college-fan ugly.

- The Lakers looked good. Kobe had a slow start, but Pau Gasol roared out of the gate. Kobe got it going in the fourth to push the Nuggets’ comeback attempt off, and all the role players were sharp.

- I know Kobe’s fearless (just like Mike!), but talking smack with Kenyon Martin in the first game of the series? There’s a hard foul coming in the direction of #24 before this series is over.

Anyway, Philly and Detroit. On with the show

First quarter

I’ll admit, I haven’t watched that many Sixers games this year. I really thought they wouldn’t make it into the playoffs, but hey, this is the East. Anyone can get in. That said, they’re a young, athletic team, as Andre Iguodala, Willie Green and Thadeus Young have shown early. They’ve got a good point guard in Andre Miller and a nice centre in our Canadian friend Killa Sam-I-am. The fact that the Pistons (San Antonio East?) aren’t running them out of the Palace right now is impressive.

The Pistons reel off an 11–0 run to close out the quarter and go into the break up 27–22.

Second quarter

The Sixers draw an offensive foul on a Pistons inbound. Live 95?

When a man-crush happens, I’m man enough to admit it. I love Jason Maxiell. He comes off the bench and works his ass off on the glass and when gets the chance, he flosses his athleticism with ridiculous dunks. With the Pistons falling victim to a string of weird fouls, Maxiell is the one player who’s working through it and sparking the team to keep their slim lead. 34–27 Detroit, 7:52 left.

If you ever need a reason to root for the Pistons to win another championship, the image of Rasheed Wallace with a championship belt should be enough to win anyone over.

Awesome. Sheed just picked up a technical. Pistons by ten midway through the quarter.

Maxiell and Sheed are feeding off of each other. Maxiell has 10 points and nine rebounds. Sheed picked it up as the quarter wound down. Thirteen points, six rebounds and four blocked shots, with three of them coming in the final minutes.

51–38 Pistons, halftime

I’ve been waiting for these to show up on Youtube. I love these ads:

Third quarter

It took the Sixers a while to get going, but they put together a 10–0 run to close within five of the Pistons.
Sheed put an end to that run with a putback dunk on a Chauncey Billups three-point attempt. Not to be outdone, Jason Maxiell worked for a tough dunk on the Pistons’ next trip down the floor. Good third q summary. 70–65 Detroit

Fourth quarter AKA BOSS LEVEL

Not sure how it’s happened, but a transition bucket has cut this once 15-point Pistons lead down to three. Lots of time to go. Cue Andre Miller.

His jumper from 19 cuts the Detroit lead down to one. He gets a layup to keep the Sixers within one and then at the line with 6:40 left, he goes 1/2 and ties the game at 76. He tips in a loose ball under the bucket to give the Sixers their first lead of the game, putting the Pistons on their heels.

The dirtiest player in the game, Reggie Evans, gives the Sixers a one-point lead with 5:12 left. With the shot clock winding down, Evans hits a long turnaround J. It’s a three-point Philly lead.

Surprisingly, I haven’t taken the time to mention how shitty Reggie Miller is as a broadcaster. Think of all the annoying things Reggie did as a player, then verbalize them. It’s tough to do, I know. Miller talks like he played: annoying as hell. Just like he had refs on his side throughout his career, Reggie’s got some TV executives in his pocket that look the other way when his voice cracks (what is he, 45 and his voice still cracks?) and when he repeatedly states the obvious. In sum, I hate him.

Louis Williams hits out of the corner to make it a four-point game, and now Sammy Dalembert is all over the defensive boards. They’re not out of the woods yet, but Philly might be able to do this.

Miller misses from 15, and Evans tips it home. Four-point lead with 90 seconds to go. After the Pistons cut it to two on free throws, Iguodala draws a foul. Misses the second (even on a do-over) and its’ a three-point lead. Willams can’t hang onto a rebound, Detroit’s got another crack at it with 51.7 left.

Billups is fouled on a jumpshot and makes both of them. Philly by one, 87–86, 45.1 remaining.

Philly ball with 26.3 left and who steps up but a five-foul having Jason Maxiell. He draws a charge (how ballsy is that?) on a driving Sam Dalembert and gets the Pistons the ball back down one.

Prince misses with ten seconds on the clock, Iguodala rebounds and is fouled. He needs both of these (a Reggie Miller-like obvious statement of my own). He gets a nervous front rim result on the first shot and hits the second. Two-point game, Detroit timeout, their last.

The Sixers are holding a mini-huddle on the court. Sheed comes in and puts arms around two guys and laughs. No one on the Sixers finds it funny. Sheed catches Dre Miller in the post on a mismatch, and blows the layup. Iguodala rebounds and is fouled. He makes both. Sixers win! 90–86 final.

Phi: Andre Miller, 20 points 6 rebounds
Det: Rasheed Wallace, 24 points, 9 rebounds, 7 blocked shots

And now, cue the talk of how the Pistons have blown homecourt advantage. I hate when the talking heads do this. You work hard all season to get homecourt, and just because you lose game 1 on your floor, it doesn’t mean you’ve lost that advantage. You played the game at home. That was your advantage. You can’t lose that.

Celtics-Hawks is up next.