It was fun ... kind of ... while it lasted
Bummer. Series tied 3-3, with the game tied at 57 going into the fourth quarter of game 7. Not sure you can find two more evenly-matched teams. These two teams square off for 20 games, odds are they would finish with a 10-10 split. The thing that jumped up and bit the Pistons was the thing that everyone pointed out as their main weakness all year: sometimes the guys just can’t shoot straight. In the fourth quarter last night, Rasheed was like 3-5, and the rest of the team was something like 3-14. That was the difference.
Although, you could really make a strong argument that the difference last night, and in the series as a whole, was 3-point shooting. Last night the Pistons were 2-for-14, while the Spurs went 7-for-11. In the seven games combined, the Spurs outscored the Pistons from behind the arc ... get ready ... 153-54. That’s an average of 14 more points per game coming from threes. If that ain’t the whole story, it’s damn near it.
But hey, hats off to the Spurs. They got it done when it mattered. Tim Duncan avoided an entire offseason of hearing about why he was a choker. I guess of all the Western Conference teams, I could probably live with the Pistons losing to the Spurs more than I could handle them losing to anyone else. They’re a great team, and Popovich is a great coach and a class act. Now, the Pistons just have to find somebody who can come off the bench and actually put the ball in the basket once in a while...
posted by Jack @ 6/24/2005 10:46:00 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
You know, it's weird. The only reason Duncan looked better, is because the Spurs finally ran the offense through him in the 4th. Did you see his shooting percentage?? 10-27...Simply terrible. And where was Tony Parker in the 4th? I'm not even sure he was on the floor other than to commit a terrible (but meaningless) foul on rip. Just a weird game.
Also, I thought Ben Wallace had AT LEAST 35 rebounds in game 7. And yet he only had 11. I don't believe it.
I have no idea who I thought was the better team. Basically it came down to home court.
Basically, yeah, it came down to home court. Maybe that will inspire the Pistons to actually play all season next year, instead of taking maddening 10-game stretches off. Home court is HUGE. Since 1980, in the four major sports, something like 17 championship series have gone to a game 7. The home team is now 17-0 in those games.
And yeah, Ben seemed huge yesterday. I thought he had more boards, too.
And I think Parker was exposed much more than Duncan was in this series. After the first two games, Chauncey at Parker alive - the Spurs eventually had to put Bowen on him, and the Pistons were too stupid to get the rock to Rip with Parker guarding him.
*Sigh*
I just checked - a road team has not won a game 7 in a championship series (World Series, NBA Finals, or Stanley Cup Finals) since the Pirates beat the Orioles in Baltimore in game 7 way back in 1979...
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