No Chauncey looked to be a big problem in the first half. The offense didn’t have much flow. We also missed Chauncey on the defensive side of the ball. Rodney Stuckey, who started for Billups got himself into foul trouble early not being able to react quick enough to the more veteran Magic guards.
Luckily for Stuckey there’s a 14 year veteran PG who was activated for the game. Lindsey played really well when you consider his age and just how much he hasn’t played this season. He was tenacious as ever and helped to keep the Pistons in the game.
It kind of looked like with out our floor leader we were going to have to concede a second loss to the Magic in Orlando and prepare to go back to the Palace and hold serve.
Things started to turn around in the second half. The Pistons started the third down by 11(44-55), and not too long into the quarter the deficit grew to 15. That’s when the team that Pistons’ fans love emerged. The Pistons defense started clamping down. A 15-0 run put Detroit even with Orlando at 63 and we again had ourselves a ball game.
The Pistons were able to contain Dwight Howard all night. The Piston defenders did a great job of pushing Dwight away from the basket and not letting him get any close looks. Howard scored a personal playoff low 8 points, with no field goals after the first quarter, to go with his 12 boards.
The fourth quarter was a good old fashion playoff battle with the lead going back and forth. Rasheed (16 pts) who was invisible in the first half combined with Rip (32 pts) and Tayshaun (17 pts) to help carry the Pistons.
