Pistons Hang On for Game 2 Win
Just when it seemed the Magic were mounting a late rally to get back into their Game 2 matchup with the Pistons, Chauncey Billups showed why he has earned the moniker "Mr. Big Shot."
Billups converted a three-point play with 59.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter to push Detroit's lead back to nine points and seal a 98-90 victory Monday that gave his team a 2-0 advantage in their first-round series.
Billups finished with 21 points, and Richard Hamilton scored 12 of his 22 in the final frame. Rasheed Wallace tallied 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Hedo Turkoglu led the Magic with 22 points, while Grant Hill had 21. Darko Milicic scored all 10 of his points in the fourth to augment the comeback try.
The series swings to Orlando for Game 3 on Thursday. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.
Magic fall to Pistons, trail series 2-0
Darko should be bigger part of the Magic's offense
Billups converted a three-point play with 59.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter to push Detroit's lead back to nine points and seal a 98-90 victory Monday that gave his team a 2-0 advantage in their first-round series.
Billups finished with 21 points, and Richard Hamilton scored 12 of his 22 in the final frame. Rasheed Wallace tallied 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Hedo Turkoglu led the Magic with 22 points, while Grant Hill had 21. Darko Milicic scored all 10 of his points in the fourth to augment the comeback try.
The series swings to Orlando for Game 3 on Thursday. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.
Magic fall to Pistons, trail series 2-0
Darko should be bigger part of the Magic's offense
posted by OVERWADED @ 2:47 AM
8 Comments:
At 3:12 AM,
OVERWADED said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
At 3:14 AM,
OVERWADED said…
I was glad to see Brian Hill make some adjustments tonight.
Wait a minute... Did I just watch game 1 or game 2?
I'm on the edge. If Brian Hill is coaching this team next year I might lose it.
At 2:51 PM,
Big Figure said…
No longer will i judge any player on this team,under this coach,no player in this league could reach their full potential,it's no wonder that as soon as mike bibby left bsh in vancouver he became a top player,it's also no wonder that they were the worst team in the league with bsh as their coach. Not one single adjustment last night,the players played better,not as many free throws missed,lower turnovers,and we still lost by 8,i just hope detroit finishes the job in 4,and then maybe this performance can get bsh FIRED!!!!!!!!!!
At 4:52 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
The Pistons are such a fundamentally sound team... it seems like every game they have an oustanding AST/TO ratio, outstanding FT%, and they won't beat themselves with silly mistakes.
The Magic, meanwhile, are lax in all 3 areas, plus we have a coach who does not know how to exploit matchups in the Magic's favor.
Billups is outplaying Nelson at PG so bad it's not even funny.
Considering that DET hasn't swept a 4 game series since 1989, it would be embarrassing to the Magic if they got swept. The Magic do have enough talent to win a few games against DET, but the style of play that BHill wants and improper player rotation makes it that much harder.
At 5:21 PM,
OVERWADED said…
I thinking the series goes 5. I think the team and the crowd will pull them through game 3, and the Pistons won't care enough to lose 1 game. However, I think they'll make sure to turn it up a little in game 4 to get a win, and close it out in 5 back at home in Detroit.
HOWEVER; I'm with BIG, I think I'd rather Detroit finish us off in 4. That'll give B Hill a perfect record, in that whenever his team loses in the playoffs, they're swept. No need to break that record which speaks volumes about his coaching abilities.
It's good that our guys are getting a small taste of the playoffs. Hopefully this will leave them hungry for next season. And hopefully it opens a few eyes on Brian Hill.
Just as BIG said, it's really hard to judge any of our players; no matter how bad they look at times when they're playing under Brian Hill. Because if he is forcing them to play a style that they do not excel in, they're going to look bad, or at least not as good as they could. Jameer is a perfect example of this, as last year he actually looked great, and this year, even when he's hitting his shot, I don't like his style of play.
By the way; Darko continues to IMPRESS. I’ll say this again; the Magic are going to have to drop some serious cash to keep this guy, and I'm worried. I'm worried we're going to let him go for nothing. And it's going to be really embarrassing if he walks, and a few years down the road, under a respectable coach, he's an all-star.
Rest of the series… While I understand the series isn’t officially over, it’s going to be next to impossible to win. At what point does Brian Hill realize this, and give some of the others guys more playing time? Ariza played 7 minutes in game 1, and 13 in game 2. Darko played 27 minutes in game 1, and 28 in game two. And both Redick and Bogans have yet to take off their warm-ups. Both Darko and Ariza are key to our team’s success and future, yet they aren’t playing as much as they should. Redick should also be considered a valuable piece to our future, and he hasn’t even played. How are these guys suppose to get experience, when they’re not in the game?
I guess those are the same questions we’ve been asking all year. But I just don’t see any reason Darko shouldn’t be playing 40 minutes a game, as the Pistons have no answer for him. Ariza should easily be playing 20 plus minutes, just for his defense alone. We should be using him to slow down Prince and/or RIP. And Redick should be out there playing about 15 minutes, running off of screens, spreading the floor, and giving the Pistons a taste of their own medicine.
Brian Hill sucks. He needs to be fired right after the playoffs are over.
At 9:42 PM,
tdawg said…
A couple of things I saw the last night. Not only has Darko been the Magic's best offensive player outside of Hedo in the series, but Rasheed has struggled when Darko is in. Also it seemed in the 3rd and 4th quarters the Magic looked defeated or frustrated.
Hopefully Orlando can take a game or two at home.
At 12:19 PM,
Big Figure said…
Sorry,i wish i felt the same way tdawg but i dont,i hope the pistons crush the magic on our floor and hopefully billups keeps making jameer look bad also,we already made the playoffs so goals have been reached,but what would we get out of it winning a game or two against the pistons? You guys should all read bianchi's article this morning,really interesting to see how we are viewed by other players/journalists,if we are the little kid against the bully on the block,then bsh is a pair of handcuffs,we cant even throw any punches let alone win the fight.
At 6:50 PM,
Anonymous said…
Domin8 MySpace with unique myspace flash animations. Check out www.domin8myspace.com
Post a Comment
<< Home