Cocktopus

What a shot....I almost shit myself. Lakers showed much better defense and matchups. Walton surprised me. He played better than Malone and Payton combined.

Kurant

It's 2 games in and your telling me you can already tell Detroit is the toughest opponent yet? Wow. The Spurs beat them the first 2, and Lakers probably lose the series without Fishers amazing-once-in-a-lifetime-ever-monkey-out-of-his-ass-3-pointer.

Don't read too much into it. Even Houston took a game from the Lakers. Detroit didn't look to great in overtime. However, Indiana or any other squad in the east woulden't give them anything like they are getting now. When the Lakers turn it up, Detroit can only hope to contain them.

goddfather40

I think you're referring to my post, here. Keep in mind I said that the Pistons are the Shaq/Kobe Lakers toughest FINALS opponent yet. The Spurs are definitely better than Detroit, IMO. The experience of being down 0-2 to the Spurs only helps in this situation. Despite the great Laker's victory, much of the momentum is still in Detroit's favor.

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primal

This is a really great series! Did anybody expect Luke Walton to play like he had Magic Johnson's hand up his ass? Rip Played really well. It's clear that Kobe's defense bothers Rip.

Detroit has to be happy at almost winning 2 on the road. If the Lakers can play like they did in overtime then they can win in 5. But the Lakers have been so flaky this season that I expect this to go to 7 games.

I think Rasheed is key to Detroit's success. The matchup between Malone and 'Sheed looks favorable to Detroit. I doubt that Malone's knee will be 100% by Thursday. Detroit has to capitolize on that. If Malone is outplayed/benched then someone will have to come over to help on 'Sheed and the Lakers will pay. Detroit should let Sheed play with the fouls if they are behind.

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Scipio

Lakers in 5? People seriously think the Pistons will lose ALL 3 of their home games? Give me a break.

I think the series will go to 6 or 7 games. My prediction is that the Pistons will win 2 two of their home games, and that the challenge will be for the Lakers to hold on at home in games 6 and 7.

I was correct in predicting that the Lakers would make adjustments and win game 2. Turns out, they had to take it to overtime to do it. I figured it would just be a straight-up 10 point win. I suppose I was close enough.

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Jadedfox

Kobe is as clutch as Reggie was in his prime. Damn that was nice.
Hats off to Detroit for nearly stealing 2 games on the road.

--jaded

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Spartak

Go boobcam!

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Nimbletoe

Fuck you Kobe. You're too damn good.

That being said, the pistons didn't deserve to win that game. They missed way, WAY too many open shots and layups, again. Sheed yet again got in foul trouble, and Kobe is fucking with Rip's head. But still, with both teams playing near their best, I can't be too mad how the pistons matched the Lakers, after handing them their asses in game one, on the road. I think the Pistons are going to win the first two home games, and the third is going to be a big battle. We'll see though!

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grumpyolddude

We witnessed Larry Brown's philosophy of "playing the game the right way" cost the Pistons a 2-0 series advantage. LA handed Detroit the game when then in-bounded the ball to Shaq on that last posseession in regulation. They should have fouled Shaq to make him shoot 2 free throws instead of letting Kobe even touch the ball, but Brown doesn't coach that way.

Great game. Luke Walton saved the Lakers' ass. Kobe was heroic, but the rookie was the key.

Looking forward to Thursday.

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minusthesoul

I agree with everything grumpyolddude said.
How do you not foul Shaq on the last possession. Unbelievable shot by Kobe but it never should have gotten to him.

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Kurant

Yeah, but now, if you foul in the last 2 minutes don't you get free throws and the ball back?

I thought that was a new rule in the NBA this year. Maybe that's only at the end of a half or somthing.

Zoom

if the lakers continue to get bullshit calls, they will win undoubtedly

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grumpyolddude

That rule applies to fouling a player without the ball, I believe. Shaq caught the in-bounds pass, should have been fouled

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Halx

BLIND! You're BLIND! What kind of bullshit calls were there? I saw so many non-call moving screens on Detroit, I was flippin' out. Oh what about Rasheed completely pushing Malone over with his head? Now what did YOU see?

Quit trying to bail your team out by blaming the refs. Nobody else is using them as a complaint. These were good games over all.

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Nimbletoe

That call on Shaq at the end for the three point play was CRAZY. If that was anyone but Shaq, there would have been no call.

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powerclown

No doubt...the refs treated shaq like a little princess last night; if they treated rasheed like they treat shaq, it would easily be 2-0. rasheeds foot looks like its fine and hes playing ok, but he gets zero respect from the refs.

perripken

All I know is Phil Jackson must have thought he was seeing Michael Jordan all over again when Kobe dumped that 3. Man.... what an exciting finish to regulation. I am so looking forward to game 3.

GO LAKERS!

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goddfather40

You mean when Rasheed speared Malone with his head, right? You mean when Ben Wallace flopped on Shaq's fifth foul, you mean when Kobe got hit on the wrist by Tayshaun Prince on a jumper from the foul line, right? The bullshit calls were at best a wash between the teams.

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Scipio

I think it's this way 99% of the time, and I try my hardest to never resort to complaining about the officials, because it's subjective, and arguing about it rarely gets anyone anywhere.

FWIW, I think game 3 is gonna go to the Pistons. They're probably kicking themselves over the way they lost game 2, and are going to defend their home court pretty fiercely.

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Halx

The Pistons lost game 2 in OT because they were, frankly, stunned by Kobe's shot. No other way about it. That shot had the same effect on them that Fisher's shot had on San Antonio. I think they're done for.

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Nimbletoe

I'd agree if it wasn't only the second game, and it was a close game where they were expected by almost everyone cept pistons fans to get blown out when the lakers actually showed up. But they're going home for three games now, and they have to feel glad they almost beat the lakers at home when they were playing their best.

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Damnyankee

Uhhhhhhhh........ Are you watching the same series I am? I think they are far from "done for"!

perripken

I'm a Lakers fan and I have to agree with Damnyankee, they are far from done for. Remember, Detroit took one at Staples, the next three are in Detroit. There are some rabid fans there!

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Scipio

If the Lakers go on to win it, I think people are going to look at that shot as a turning point. It makes a nice post facto justification, but it's not going to cause the Lakers to win anything. It's still early in the series, and Detroit will bounce back.

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JoeyB

I appreciate the unyielding support of Lakers fans, since I'm a more skeptical follower of the purple and gold.

How can anyone watch this team during Games 1 and 2 and think that they are in control?? They were completely outplayed in Game 1 and were a Kobe shot away from going down 2 games. Now, they have a banged up Malone to add to the degree of difficulty.

I hope this doesn't digress into another "Kobe is the best player ever" discussion---he's fantastic, let's move on. As always, they need more than Kobe and Shaq. That was their downfall last year and has been the main reason why it's been so dramatic this year.

They escaped the Spurs because of Fish. They put away the Wolves thanks to Rush. Game 2 it was Luuuuuuuuuuke.

The Pistons have a much more complete team, while the Lakers are 2 of the greatest of all-time, pulling 2 empty shells of future hall of famers clinging to the dream of a ring and a supporting cast that can disappear quicker than a J-Lo wedding planner.

If Devean George wants a big contract next year---he needs to show that he deserves it. Payton, Slava, Fox....prove something. Yes, you've proven it in the past. So has Jamal Wilkes--in the past--that doesn't guarantee a championship now.

Can the Lakers win? Of course. Will they win? Probably. But to call this a done deal is completely ignoring the effort of the Pistons in the first 2 games.

Go Lakers....but stop assuming that the trophy is your right.

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Nimbletoe

I love it.

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Zoom

*crickets chirp* *tumbleweed rolls by*

hear that? those are laker fans after tonights 20 point laker loss

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Mojo_PeiPei

I'm jumping ship and going with Detroit from here on out. The Lakers are a joke. They had trouble putting down the rockets who played like a joke in the playoffs. They squeaked out a victory against San Antonio. Don't even get me started with the T'Wolves series because had Cassell not been injured I guarentee the Lakers would be at home watching right now.

Not like Detroit beat any good teams either, the East was a joke. But this is seriously pathetic. I could probably run "the Glove" right now, cause man does he suck. And at the same time Chauncey is stepping up huge for the Pistons. Before the game they showed states how GP has scored 5 points on 2/7 shooting and his assist/TO ratio was 6/5 where Chauncey has 45 points on and a 15-5 assist/to ratio. Karl is gimped out and old, looks like he will never get that bling.

Whats going to ultimately do in the Lakers is the fact they have no bench. Fisher is the only respectable person coming off it for them. Walton and Rush can be good, but they've each had ONE good game all playoffs, and pretty much all season, that doesn't make them viable options during the finals. Not saying the Pistons bench is any better, but thats not how their squad works anyways. All the Pistons really have to do is minimize what Shaq and Kobe can do, because the rest of the Lakers are fucking up big time.

As it goes though, its still to early to count the Lakers out. But seriously, what a joke of a team they are.

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Halx

Man, I am so pissed off. My team put up a shit effort today. I still love 'em and I'm still confident that they can win, however I am just beside myself at the complete JOKE of a game they just played.

I'm reading the fan forums right now and I'm seeing a lot of bandwagon fans jump off like it was gonna explode. I ain't like that. I'll go down with the ship if I have to, but I still say the Lakers are gonna win!

Fuck all you fair-weather fans.

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powerclown

Not too competitive, but we'll take it.

Sion

Im a Laker fan from way back (early 80s) and thought that once they had dispatched all the "real" contenders in the West, they'd easily rip through Dretroit or anyone else from the East. And while I still believe they will win this series, I gotta give props to the Pistons. They are playing some amazing D. Suffocating is the word that comes to mind. Very impressive. Even if they should lose to the Lakers, they have proven themselves worthy of a finals berth and the title of championship contender.



Now, with that outta the way, its time for the Lakers to TURN THIS MUTHAFUCKA LOOSE AND ANNIHILATE THE PISTONS!

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Scipio

Game 1: Pistons dominate

Game 2: Lakers win a close game.

Game 3: Pistons dominate, then dominate some more.

I think I see where this is headed. I've been thinking that for all the superstars the Pistons lack, they're a stacked team. You've got both Wallaces, Billups, Rip, Tayshaun Prince, plus some size coming off the bench. These guys have basically outplayed the Lakers at every position, plus they play better team defense.

Now it's a question of whether Detroit will win both of their home games and end the series. Nobody doubts that they can, but the question is, will they do it? Personally, I think it's more likely that the Lakers will win one of the two, and take the series back to LA. It might be game 4, might be game 5, but I think the Lakers will win one.

So I suppose that's my victory scenario for the Lakers. They win one of the next two in Detroit, then sweep at home to finish the series. I think saturday's game will probably be decisive. If the Lakers don't come to play by game 4, they deserve to lose the series.

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goddfather40

Why the Lakers lost

Offensive Boards: Pistons 15, Lakers 7
Free Throws: Pistons 21/30, Lakers 8/13

Simply as that. Shaq needs to get to the line more than 1 time. Kobe needs to get to the line more than 1 time (he did shoot a technical FT too). Why the fuck did Phil have Kobe guarding Corliss Williamson in the 2nd quarter?????

HUSTLE HUSTLE HUSTLE god damnit.

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Nimbletoe

I'm sure the turnovers, Malone being gimp and LA not having a competent back up, the pressure defense by Detroit along with them putting up a decent ammount of points had nothing to do with it...

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Jadedfox

You know, I'm so happy my pacers lost to detroit in the eastern finals. Why? Because unlike the pacers, detriot can and does compete against lakers. Actually, dominate is a much better word.

The pacers need some more playoff experience and they should be OK. But goddamn, no way would the pacers be able to do this against the Lakers. Go pistons!

--jaded

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Speed_Gibson

I was thinking after the game how much I would have preferred to see the Spurs vs Detroit in the finals. The Spurs are a deeper, younger, and healthier team that should have won the Western Conference but for a miracle shot and their defense can be quite suffocating as well.

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goddfather40

Yeah, the points off turnovers were big. Detroit's two spurts at the beginning of the 3rd and 4th quarters were good offensive displays. But, I feel that the offensive boards and the FT's were bigger factors. You give any NBA team 2 or 3 shots per offensive series, they will usually convert. If the Lakers and Pistons had equal amounts of FT's, then this would've been a whole different game. The Lakers couldn't get inside to draw the fouls, while the Pistons did.

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Nimbletoe

The lakers had 17 less free throws than the pistons. You figure they make about half of those (9, i'll even be nice), they still lose by 11. Shaq didn't get to the line because they didn't get the ball to him, and Kobe didn't get to the line because the pistons swarmed him, and wouldn't let him. It wasn't that the lakers were like, lets just not drive to the hole today, the Detroit defense wouldn't let them.

Oh, and by the way, it's driving me nuts how people think teams just play bad against the pistons. NJ, Indiana, now LA... don't you people think that it's more than a coincidence now that every time a team plays detroit, they play poorly? Come on.

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grumpyolddude

Actually, the Pistons haven't played up to their potential on offense yet. Still missing too many easy shots, too many free throws.

When I went against my heart and picked LA in 6, I thought that they'd take the task seriously. But, frankly, they're playing like pussies and should be down 3-0.

Great effort and great game, I'm smiling.

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Scipio

I'm with you 100%. I too picked LA in 6, and it seems like that's pretty close to out the window at this point. I saw Sheed hit a ton of shots vs. the pacers, but he's been quiet in this series, and hasn't gotten too many minutes. I think Billups is getting his shots though, so it's probably balancing out. It's interesting to see an offense in the NBA that doesn't depend on a big man.

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