SporTech Matter Archived Site

Detroit Lasts One More Game

GAME 5 | PISTONS 91, HEAT 78

I guess this was to be expected. With Detroit’s backs against the wall they had to win this one. With the huge disparity in FTA’s and the Heat’s crappy FT shooting, the Pistons managed to squeek one out. Yes I said squeek b/c thats all they did. If you take away the crappy three throw shooting the Heat have 86 points.

Miami shot a wretched 6-for-20 from the stripe, with Jason Williams the lone Heat player to convert more than half his foul shots. Had the Heat converted at their regular-season rate of 69.9 percent, they would have made 14 of those 20 foul shots and finished with 86 points.

The block on Shaq was definitley a momentum shift but I just can’t see how it was clean, all homerism aside. Ben clearly uses Shaq’s body as leverage to get his hang time on the block. It is clearly displayed in the following picture…

Ben clearly uses Shaq’s body as leverage, oh well on to game 6

On to the recap…

Perhaps it was desperation that turned Tayshaun Prince into the most effective offensive player on the floor Wednesday night.

Maybe it was the survival instinct that made Ben Wallace look like the league’s Defensive Player of the Year for the first time in this series.

And perhaps it was the comfort of knowing it held a 3-1 lead in the series that turned the Heat into a group that could barely hit a free throw or an open jumper.

Whatever the reason, it all means Miami has one less chance to close out the Pistons after falling 91-78 at The Palace of Auburn Hills to narrow its series lead to 3-2.

Game 5 would have been an extra satisfying win for the Heat, which lost to the Pistons in Miami in Game 7 last season. But a Game 6 win now becomes nearly mandatory if the Heat is going to make its first trip to the NBA Finals.

”They came out like we knew they were going to come out, pressuring and playing with a lot of energy,” said Dwyane Wade, who was 11 of 20 from the floor for 23 points in 45 minutes. “We took the first couple punches and we still were there. But tonight they beat us to a lot of loose balls, a lot of tip-out rebounds at key times. Give them credit. They played hard. They played like a desperate team.”

The previous two close-out opportunities for the Heat this postseason were the team’s best games, according to Wade. Yet the start of Wednesday’s game resembled nothing of the sort.

I am not worried about Detroit’s win. I expect the Heat to make some adjustments ala Riley and close this thing out in game 6. Check out DetroitBadBoys as they are bouncing off the walls thinking the Pistons are back and check out the colorful look at Need4Sheed.

[DAILY DIME]
[MIAMI HERALD]
[DETROITBADBOYS]
[NEED4SHEED]