Pistons should win it as long as they force the Suns into a half-court game. They have a great front court that should have an easy job getting Shaq into foul trouble. Billups is a good defender and will make Nash hustle a little more. Amare will probably go nuts like usual, but he will let Wallace go on his own little run.
Do we want the Suns to win? No. Detroit OWNED the Suns last time, right? They should do it again. It never hurts to have a WC team lose.
I want the Pistons to win but they sure didn't look good against the Wizards. I bet they come back strong and win tonight.
The Pistons are a tough team to figure out. They can look awful one night and then run off a double-digit winning streak. I think they just get bored during the regular season. Well, that and they're deliberately staying behind Boston so they can avoid Cleveland in Round 2.
The Magic whipped them pretty bad last game, in Detroit. Maybe they will be challenged in the 2nd round after all.
The Pistons are coasting on the road. They think they can turn it on come April. I dont like Flip Saunders coaching at all. The Pistons defense has slipped a lot under Flip (Oops! no Larry Brown defense anymore!?) and their offense is so stagnant from time to time. As I said before, Flip is a good regular season coach but not a championship calibre coach. I bet the Pistons dont coast in front of their home crowd, so it will be a good game tonite. Advantage: Pistons.
I think the suns match up with the celtics better than the pistons. But, now the pistons are adjusting for playoffs. I doubt they will try 100%.
The Pistons always psych themselves up when they play top competition, and the streaking Suns definitely qualify, especially on their home court. Detroit by double digits...
Going for the Pistons is they are home and they might psych themselves up. Going against them is they played a relatively tough game last night and there positioning for the 2nd seed is cemented--no real motivation. Other things going for the Suns is Bell has been cleared (even if he is rusty, he is another SG and the smart/savvy kind you want versus Rip), they got smoked last time, have a lot to play for, and they are playing well. I'd take the Suns tonight. In Boston on Wed is another story though. Also a big key to Detroit is Billips and Rip killing the Suns guards. If Nash/Barbosa/Bell/Giricek play anywhere near a draw I think the Suns win. A secondary key is I think Maxiel or another bench big (Ratliff) will have to play huge. Wallace and McDyess are going to need a lot of help versus Amare and Shaq, who draw lots of fouls. Bacially Det needs better bench play than the Suns (which they should get--they have a better bench and are at home) + I think outplay them in the small positions because they are going to lose at PF/C.
If the refs treat Amare like Wade then the Pistons are in trouble. I hope the Pistons bounce back from their lost last night.
