Who would’ve thought, with all of the Pistons’ playoff experience and seniority, that they would allow the Philadelphia 76ers to regain a 15-point deficit and steal Game 1 on Detroit turf?

Well, it happened, and Philly deserves due credit.  They did everything right down the stretch.  But, in my (extremely) humble opinion, the Pistons lost this one more than Philly won it.

The story of the night: missed opportunities.

There were so many chances for Detroit to tie or take the lead in the final minutes, it was almost like the Sixers wanted to keep the Stones in it.  But they failed to capitalize: an open Rip 15-footer, a lightly-contested Sheed layup, you name it- none of ‘em were falling last night.

Maybe next time, right?  More like definitely next time. We’ve been in this situation so many times before, it hurts my head to think about it.  You don’t even need to have faith in the Pistons to be certain they’ll win Game 2.  However, if they do drop Game 2, they’re in deep #$%&.

Sheed was doin’ his thing this time around: 24 points, 9 boards, and 7 monster blocks.  He was all over the floor for 99% of the game, but his luck ran out in the closing minute when he missed a layup to tie the game.  Regardless, 3 blocks on Andre Igoudala in about 30 seconds almost makes it worth it.  But not quite.

“The last bunny, that was a bucket I should’ve made.” Wallace said. “I’m going to take this one on the chin.”

Jason Maxiell, coming up big with 12 points and 11 boards.

Although Max notched 29 minutes, I’m hoping Flip Saunders isn’t coming down with another bad case of “overplayyourstartersitis” or “benchaphobia”, if you will.  We’ll see how Game 2 goes, but I definitely would have liked to see more than 5 minutes out of Theo Ratliff and Jarvis Hayes.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Andre Miller truly is one of the most underrated point guards I’ve ever seen.  His ability to control every aspect of the game is uncanny and the guy can hit a shot from any spot on the floor.

Reggie Evans came up huge in the clutch.

Arron Afflalo and Amir Johnson will be luckily to step foot on the court if this series continues the way it started.

Game 2: Wednesday at 7:30.  Let’s do this thang.

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