The Pistons will be here between Games 1 and 2
of the NBA Finals -- The Alamo
Go ahead and book the flight to San Antonio. Make the arrangements, make sure the busses are ready and don't forget to turn off the coffee pot. Pack some warm weather clothes and make time to visit the Alamo between Game 1 and Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Break out those tapes of Spurs games for the scouting folks.
The Pistons, not the Miami Heat, should do all of the above.
This is a sure thing -- surer than sure. Bank on it. Put all the money on Detroit. Bet the farm, Ellie May. The Pistons will win Game 6 in Detroit Saturday, then take the Heat to the woodshed in Game 7, celebrating a return trip to the NBA Finals on Miami's home floor.
Why am I so certain of all this? Maybe I'm disgusted about Game 5, but I truly believe the Pistons are destined to win this series, and if the Heat think the defending champions are done like dinner, then they have dibs on another think.
I like the Pistons in a Game 7 on the road, almost more than I would like them if the game was at the Palace. There is an enormous amount of pressure on the home team to win a Game 7, and it doesn't take much for the players, and the fans, to get tight. And a team like the Heat, who haven't enjoyed this much playoff success since, well, ever, might feel their collars shrink a bit. They say the clinching game of a series is always the toughest to win, and the task is certain to be even tougher when you're going up against the champs after having blown a chance to do away with them in Game 6.
Oh, I'm sure there will be talk in the Heat camp of "putting them away" and "keeping them down" and "not letting them have any life", but it will all be for naught. The Pistons will not only defeat Miami in Game 6, they will spank them good and send them to bed without dinner.
This is the time when Rip Hamilton, Chauncey Billups and even Rasheed Wallace usually step to the forefront, especially Wallace. He was miserable in Game 5 -- two points and five fouls -- and his history with the Pistons, especially during the playoffs, is that he bounces back like a superball after poor games. Game 6 won't even be close, Mildred -- and you read it here first (I hope).
Game 7 will be a battle, no question, and will likely be nip and tuck the whole way. But the Pistons will put the defensive clamps down midway through the fourth quarter and come away with the win and the Eastern Conference Championship.
Sorry, Miami -- but Dolphins training camp is only about a month away. Something to look forward to, I'm sure.
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