What a game– my heart hasn’t thumped like that since… well… the playoffs. I stood the entire time, from tip off to time up. Let me tell you, if Wade had sunk that last jumper with just over a second left, this blogger would have a broken television. Gratefully, the Pistons maintained their lead with SMART defense closing out the fourth quarter.

How did Detroit take this one? 1) Rip Hamilton. 2) Great teamwork on the defensive end. 3) A little luck. 4) Depth of bench. While Miami’s offensive teamwork did outshine Detroit, with only 5 turnovers to our 10 and 16 assists to our 13, the Heat’s shooting fell just short of the basket. Detroit shot 45% to Miami’s 41% from the field. The last important stat– Detroit had 9 blocks to Miami’s 2. Bear in mind Detroit lost their leading blocker in Ben Wallace, and Miami had Alonzo Mourning on the floor (who was 5th in blocks in 2005-06).

Alright Detroit, tonight was exactly what you needed. While some may argue that this loss was barely marginal, you defeated the league’s defending champions in their own house. You’ve won the last seven in a row, and you are not far from leading the Eastern Conference record.

Over the next week, things are looking pretty shiny for Detroit The Pistons face the Knicks tomorrow night at home, then visit Charlotte on Sunday, followed by Portland on Tuesday. If they play their cards right, they’ll have 10 wins in a row before facing Dallas on Thursday. Dallas has been spooky for the Pistons over the last few seasons, and this coming game should be no different. But tonight, the ‘Stones tazed the league’s defending champions. If they can beat the Mavericks next Thursday, the whole league will take one hell of a notice…

Aside from two wins over Washington, Detroit finally has the opportunity for a big win– one that will establish quite a bit of credibility in a season that is shakey, at best, for most of the Eastern Conference. Tonight, at 8:00p.m. EST, Detroit visits the Miami Heat on TNT. The Heat are without Shaq, Jason Williams or James Posey this evening– but the Pistons can’t expect this to be an easy win. Dwyane Wade, who has stepped into the point position, is averaging 33.6 ppg and 13.3 assists per game, and 6 rpg in the last three games. The man is practically unstoppable of late.

I’ll spare you the predictions, as you’ve likely read plenty of that. But in case you haven’t visited ESPN.com lately, Bill Simmons anal-ysis of the Eastern Conference is a must read. Here’s what he had to say about Miami:

The Heat are like a group of women who went out for somebody’s birthday, ordered food and wine and spent the next three hours talking and eating and drinking and having a grand old time. And then the check comes and they’re completely floored by the total. Wait, it’s how much??? So they spend the next 25 minutes figuring out who owes what, and there are always 2-3 people who didn’t bring enough cash, so somebody has to cover them (and they’re pissed off about it), and then there’s a girl who left early because she has a kid, and she left only $40 when it’s $75 per person (so everyone’s pissed off about that), and then there’s the one slutty friend who got housed and wants to stick around because she thinks she might have a chance to knock boots with one of the waiters, so one of the other girls has to stay to keep an eye on her and make sure the bus boy doesn’t get involved, and there’s so much drama going on that everyone ends up leaving with a bad taste in their mouth and forgetting that they had a barrel of fun for the first three hours.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Besides, I’ve always felt that the Miami heat are a bunch of bitches. Its hard not to like or at least appreciate Wade, but this blogger has very little use for the rest of them.

Go Pistons– let’s see what you boys have got.

Are the natives now rested? Have the mutinous cries and concerns been quelled? With the Detroit Pistons winning six games straight, a whole lot of angry voices have been hushed. With two victories this weekend, 104-95 against Charlotte and 115-111 against Washington, the Pistons have risen to the second best record in the East (tied with Cleveland)– just one win behind the Orlando Magic.

Are the Pistons growing pains behind them? Not entirely. I’d love to see our boys go for a conference leading record again this year, but I’m not too anxious to execute on that. I’d like to see Flip give Detroit’s young bench a better rotation, especially Delfino and Maxiell. After taking home 64 wins last season, we all remember how tired Detroit’s starters were in the post-season (and how that turned out). This season, I’d like to see Flip give Delfino and J-Max some much needed experience, as I feel they’ll both be vital to our playoff performance. (However, with Tay playing as hot as he has been lately, I’m not going to argue if Flip feels like keeping him in the game over Delfino).

Without further adieu, let’s take a look at the numbers and the players behind them for Friday, November 24th:

• Allen Iverson - Coming off of a two game absense due to an absessed wisdom tooth, Iverson made up for his time off in a heartbeat. Iverson led the 76ers past the beleaguered Bulls with 46 points, 5 boards and 10 assists. 16 of these points came from the line, where The Answer shot 94.1%.
• Dwyane Wade - Wade put up 33 points and dished 15 dimes on Friday’s 104-107 loss to Orlando. Wade’s performance wasn’t enough, even though Miami out-rebounded Orlando by 51-38. Orlando didn’t let Miami take off with much of a lead, and played a consistent, precisely-shot game to hold Miami to their third straight loss.
• Andris Biedrins - Biedrins, a third-year player for the Golden State Warriors, had a career night with 31 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 82.4% from the field. While Troy Murphy has returned for the Warriors, Biedrins should be a big factor in their game after proving his value to coach Don Nelson.
• Carlos Boozer - Yet another monster game from Carlos Boozer: 31 points and 16 boards. Wow.

• Dwyane Wade - This kid is amazing. 35 points, 6 boards and 12 assists the night after another huge performance. This one did earn the Heat a win, going 102-93 against the Charlotte Bobcats.
• Chauncey Bu-Bu-Billups - Mr. Big Shot himself broke two personal career records on Saturday’s win over the Washington Wizards. Chauncy had 7 assists to 1 TO and shot 18 of 19 from the free throw line. This is Chauncey’s best assist/turnover ratio performance and most dominating free throw shooting. His 29 points pushed Detroit over Washington for the win, 115-111.
• Paul Pierce - Pierce put up 34 points, 7 boards and 7 dimes to help the Celtics overtake the Bucks on Saturday’s 111-98 victory. This is Pierce’s 5th game with over 30 points this season.

On Thursday night, the Pistons visit the Miami Heat at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on TNT. The Heat will be without Shaq, who is still recovering from surgery. But can we expect another dominant performance out of Dwyane Wade? If anyone can contain him, its the Pistons– but we’re in for an exciting game nonetheless. Go Pistons!

Aside from a slight dip in FG% and 3PT%, Rip is up across the board. In 8 games, here are the averages:

• FG%: 48.5%

• 3PT%: 32.8%

• FT%: 88.5%

• Rebs: 4.1

• Assists: 3.6

• Steals: 1.0

• PPG: 23.8

The most tell-tale number relating to Hamilton’s improving performance? His free-throw numbers. In 8 games, Richard Hamilton has shot 61 free throws. In 8 games last season, Hamilton shot only 24 free throws. Rip’s vendetta to attack that basket is proving fruitful by the contact that he pulls, not only the baskets that he sinks.

On a side note, I am not a fan of David Stern’s concept of what a foul is. Ten years ago, Hamilton wouldn’t have gone to the line half this much. All of the top guards in the NBA, from Wade to James to Parker, all play this rule like a flute. The latter plays it beyond my content, and continues to act out fouls like Manu Ginobli himself. But for honest guards like Hamilton (who is no foreigner to the flop, I must admit), this rule has enhanced his game– as proven by his numbers so far this season.

Rip, keep doing what you do. Follow this path, and you’ll wind up with one hell of a career year. Just watch yourself when driving for that basket. Your agressiveness brings not only baskets, but the risk of injury as well…

UPDATE– Need4Sheed.com has got the scoop on an upcoming GQ magazine cover with Mr. Rip Hamilton himself.  Be sure to check it out here!  Props to Natalie and Need4Sheed!]

Maxiell on Ming, having very little trouble with big China.

In hindsight, Detroit’s loss to the Hornets on Wednesday the 14th is forgiveable. It was a one point loss, and in context to Detroit’s performance this weekend- I’ve suspended my resentment. This weekend, the Detroit Pistons overpowered the Washington Wizards by 100-91 Friday night, and ripped up Houston with a 104-92 victory on Saturday. That’s right, Pistons fans– we’re at .500, with a 5-5 record.

On Tuesday, Detroit takes on Philadelphia for a chance to improve their record. Going into this game with two wins in a row, this blogger is hoping that our growing pains are behind us. Good luck, Detroit. As I said before, your new season begins today.

What happened this weekend in the NBA? Let’s take a look at Friday’s results:

The noteables:

• Leandro Barbosa powered Phoenix to a 106-94 win over Philadelphia. Already having a huge season, this is Barbosa’s first rebound-fed double-double of the season. In Nash’s absense, Phoenix can expect a big push by Barbosa…
• Kobe Bryant nealry earned himself a trible-double on Friday night. Aside from 31 points, Kobe raped his way to 11 rebounds and forced himself upon 7 assists.

Saturday’s noteables:

• Gilbert Arenas put up 45 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists in Washington’s win over Cleveland. This was Gilbert’s third 40+ point performance this season. Arenas is 8th in scoring so far this season with 256 points, Michael Redd leading the way with 303 points so far.
• Dwight Howard continues his freakish dominance in the post. Howard put up 24 points and 21 rebounds on Saturday night, his fifth double-double in ten games, his second in the 20’s in both points and rebounds. Is Howard on his way to a defensive player of the year award?
• Yao Ming put up 33 points and 16 rebounds against Detroit, but not enough to beat our boys in D-town. Yao is averaging 26.4 ppg and 10.4 rpg. This man is having one hell of a season. Its a shame he’s going to hurt is toe at some point…
• Rip Hamilton had one hell of a performance in that same game against Houston: 30 points, 7 boards, and 8 assists. Keep it up, Rip. While our defense stabilizes and continues to learn, we’ll need big offense out of you. Kudos, brother.
• Ray Allen put up Yao Ming numbers himself on Saturday night, in a 95-107 loss to Golden State. Allen scored 34 points and 11 boards against the Warriors, with 12 of his 34 from three point range.

We’ve got an exciting week ahead. Let’s see what Detroit can do this week, leaving Auburn Hills to visit Philadelphia and Allen Iverson’s 76ers. Good luck fellas!

The last time these teams met, our very own Rasheed Wallace was forced to sit. For the first time of that season, and in history, and NBA player was suspended for a game as a result of too many technicals in a season. Rasheed is no stranger to being the blunt of the leagues new rulings, which you’re all well familiar with this season. This wasn’t the big story of our 101-93 victory over the Hornets last April 4th. No, it was this man:

(note- a reader pointed out that the image above was made by Need4Sheed.com.  Kudos to them!  Killer wallpaper)
So McNice you’ll want to take him to breakfast. Antonio put up 26 points on 11-17 shooting and 14 boards– and led the Pistons in scording, FG%, and rebounds. Quite a game…

So what can we expect this year? The Hornets just now closed out a 94-85 home game win against the Bobcats for a 5-3 season record. For the first time this season, Mr. Peja Stojakovich dominated the floorboards with a career record 42 points on 15-22 shooting, 7 from 3-point land, and an additional 8 rebounds. His season has been slowly building, and this is one hell of a crescendo…

Can we expect the same performance tomorrow? No. Especially since the Pistons are on several days of rest. It should also be noted that Peja was the only Hornets starter to break into double-digit scoring. Chris Paul had 2 points from free throws, and was otherwise 0-8 from the field.

A rested Detroit Pistons, hungry and shamed after a tough loss to Golden State, will dominate the NOK Hornets tomorrow evening. I wish I could tune in with my fellow Detroiters, I’ll surely have a box score open in front of me, with the cell phone ready to ring.

Good luck Detroit. Your new season begins tomorrow.

If you’re a Pistons fan, like this blogger, that last little statistic isn’t easy to look at. On Saturday night, the Pistons were handed a 111-79 loss from the Golden State Warriors. Golden State outplayed the Pistons with 33 assists to Detroit’s 18, and five players in double digit scoring with two others sitting at 9. It was an ugly game for Detroit, closing out a four game tour of the west coast on a low point. Flip Saunder commented on Detroit’s inconsistency:

“You’re concerned no matter when it is (in a season) because you want to get consistency, and we’ve got to get consistency,” Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. “We came out kind of flat and they were hitting some shots in the beginning and pretty much just beat up on us.”

On the lighter side, Tayshaun Prince had a huge game for the Pistons in Friday night’s win over the Lakers at the Staples Center. Tayshaun matched his career record with 31 points, also collecting 7 rebounds and 3 assists. This isn’t a shock to Detroit fans, who watched Tayshaun dominate in the post-season last year, putting up some impressive numbers throughout (and, in this blogger’s opinion, being the only concrete reliable player in last year’s shaky post-season).

In other news:

• Yao Ming broke a career record with 7 blocks, in a 103-94 win over New York. Yao shut it down with 35 points, 17 rebounds in addition to those 7 blocks. Is this the year of the Yao? If he continues to put up numbers like this, it would be hard to argue otherwise….
• Zach Randolph gave the Portland Blazers a 31 point, 12 rebound performance including the winning free throw with 2.4 seconds left. Randolph helped the Trail Blazers come back from a 27 point deficit to sting the Hornets with a one point win.
• Dwight Howard led the Magic to a 109-98 win over Minnesota, putting up 21 points and grabbing 22 rebounds against his childhood hero, KG himself. This was the 6th time in Howard’s career where he has pulled down 20+ boards.
• Chris Bosh had a monster game against Atlanta– unfortunately not “monster” enough. While Bosh put together one hell of a line, with 19 points, 17 rebounds, and 6 assists, that wasn’t enough to overcome Atlanta, who went home with a 111-102 victory.
• Deron Williams helped Utah overtake Milwaukee with a 113-111 win. Williams scored 27 points and dished out a career record 15 assists.

Thanks for tuning in, my Basketballr Brethren. Detroit has three chances to improve their record this coming week, against NOK, Washington and Houston. The media may have written you guys off, but this blogger– and our readers, i’m sure, are filled with die hard confidence in our boys in blue. Let’s see what you got!!

(By the way, do you like this Weekend Review section? Let us know in the comments, we’ll be sure to make this a weekly thing)