Down 0-1, Pistons find themselves in East finals slump

Thu May 22 16:08:34 CDT 2008

Down 0-1, Pistons find themselves in East  finals slump

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By Chris Sheridan
ESPN.com

BOSTON -- It has been so long  since the _Detroit Pistons_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=det)  missed the conference finals that a  little 
bit of a contemporary history lesson is in order. Memories being what  they 
are, we'll make it easy on you and go with a true/false quiz:  
The last time the Pistons failed to reach the conference finals was in  
2001-02, when: 
• True or False: They had only two players appear in all 82  regular-season 
games. One is now working as an ESPN commentator; the other is  still with the 
team, but wearing a suit and tie to every game.  
Answer: True. The players were Jon Barry and Michael Curry. 
• True or False: They lost in the second round to a team in green that  had 
decided earlier that season it would be a good idea to trade _Joe Johnson_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3520)  to Phoenix for Tony 
Delk and Rodney Rogers.  
Answer: True. (Sorry to bring up that old reminder of JJ, Celtics  fans.) 
• True or False: They were only one year removed from the end of the  
coaching era of one George Irvine, who had been replaced the previous offseason  by 
Rick Carlisle.  
Answer: True. (And Carlisle, by the way, is about to be reunited in  Dallas 
with the leading scorer from the 2001-02 Pistons, _Jerry Stackhouse_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3005) .) 
• True or False: They were led in free-throw shooting by _Ratko Varda_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3572)  and _Brian Cardinal_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3443) , and got 69 
3-pointers out of _Damon Jones_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3322) .  
Answer: True. (That roster also included _Mikki Moore_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3308) , _Victor Alexander_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=392)  and _Dana Barros_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=21) .) 
Also notable, from a Pistons standpoint, was that the NBA title was won that  
season by a _Los Angeles Lakers_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=lal)  squad that included a current member  of the Pistons, _Lindsey Hunter_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=1281) . 
Almost makes you feel old, eh? 
Well, it's just that the Pistons have been a fixture in the late-May NBA  
equation for so long. But while they've made it to the conference finals six  
consecutive times, they have only one championship trophy to show for it. 
What's more, they're carrying some losers' baggage -- at least in this round  
-- that is becoming hard to ignore. 
"We're a better team than that," _Richard Hamilton_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3330) , who was a member of the _Washington 
Wizards_ (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=was)  in 2001-02, said 
Tuesday as Detroit  sorted out its 88-79 loss to the _Boston Celtics_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=bos)  in Game 1. "They kind of hit us first, 
 and we're the type of team that wants to hit first, and we've been like that 
for  the last three years. We've just got to do a better job coming out of 
the  gate." 
A couple of things to consider going into Thursday night's Game 2 
• In their current run of six straight trips to the conference finals, the  
Pistons have trailed 0-2 only once.  
• They haven't opened a conference finals on the road since 2005, when they  
actually won the opener (in Miami), lost three of the next four, then won the  
final two and went on to the Finals. 
• Last year, they were ahead of Cleveland 2-0, then went on to lose their  
next four. That puts them on a five-game Eastern Conference finals losing  
streak, and a seven-game road losing streak when you include losses in Games 3,  4 
and 6 against Miami in 2006. 
• They have to try to end those streaks against a Boston Celtics team that  
has gone 9-0 at home in this year's playoffs. 
_Chauncey Billups_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3174)  failed to assert himself in Game 1,  scoring just nine points and taking 
only six shots in 31 minutes as he played  his first game in 13 days after 
injuring his hamstring in Game 3 of the second  round at Orlando. By making only 
three field goals in Game 1, it marked the  ninth consecutive Eastern 
Conference finals game in which Billups failed to make  more than six shots. (You have 
to go all the way back to Game 3 of the 2006  Eastern Conference finals to 
find Billups' last breakout game -- 31 points on  11-for-17 shooting.) 
_Rasheed Wallace_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3006)  shot only 3-for-12 in Game 1 matched  against _Kevin Garnett_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3007) , who led the Celtics with 26 
points. In  his past five Eastern Conference finals games -- four losses to 
the Cavs, one to  the Celtics -- Wallace is averaging just 12.8 points and 
shooting 21-for-60 (35  percent). And let's also not forget that he wouldn't have 
been allowed to play  in Game 7 of last year's conference finals after he was 
ejected in Game 6 at  Cleveland, putting himself over the postseason 
technical-foul limit that brings  with it an automatic one-game suspension. 
"This is the game, Game 2, I've always thought is the game for the home team  
that is a danger game because of that false sense of security," Celtics coach 
 Doc Rivers said Wednesday. "We have to come out with a great intensity  
[Thursday]. Detroit will be better [Thursday]. Chauncey Billups will be better  
[Thursday], so will Rasheed, and we have to be ready for that, but we can be  
better, as well." 
Another loss Thursday night, and a case can be made that the Pistons' window  
of opportunity is closing fast.  
Then again, this is a team that has been hanging its hat on its resiliency  
for the better part of this decade. Sometimes the Pistons have been able to  
summon it, sometimes they haven't. 
But again, they've never been down 2-0 in a conference finals, so that would  
be unexplored territory.  
Just something to keep in mind in case this one gets away from Detroit on  
Thursday night.  
Chris Sheridan covers the NBA for ESPN Insider. To e-mail Chris, _click  
here_ (http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/mailbagESPN?event_id=9634) .

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