Game 1: at Detroit, Tue., May 23 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN)Game 2: at Detroit, Thur., May 25 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN)Game 3: at Miami, Sat., May 27, (8 p.m. ET, ESPN)Game 4: at Miami, Mon., May 29, (8 p.m. ET, ABC)Game 5: at Detroit, Wed., May 31 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN)*Game 6: at Miami, Fri., June 2, (8 p.m. ET, ESPN)*Game 7: at Detroit, Sun., June 4 (8 p.m. ET, ABC)**If necessary<span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%">Miami Heat</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">Starting Line-up</span> <span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:100%">G Jason Williams 10.0 PPG 2.0 RPG 3.6 APGF Antoine Walker 14.3 PPG 5.70 RPG 2.8 APG 1.33 SPGC Shaquille O'Neal 19.3 PPG 9.2 RPG 1.8 APG 1.36 BPGF Udonis Haslem 10.4 PPG 8.2 RPG .8 APGG Dwyane Wade 26.0 PPG 5.2 RPG 6.9 APG 2.18 SPG 1.00 BPG</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">Key Bench Players</span> <span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:100%">Gary Payton G 7.3 PPG 1.5 RPG 1.1 APG 1.09 SPGJames Posey F 8.6 PPG 582 RPG 1.2 APGAlonzo Mourning C 4.3 PPG 2.3 RPG 0.2 APG</span><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%">Detroit Pistons</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">Starting Line-up</span> <span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:100%">G Chauncy "HorseMouth" Billups 17.9 PPG 3.7 RPG 6.2 APG 1.42 SPG F Tayshuan Prince 16.6 PPG 5.4 RPG 3.2 APG C Ben Wallace 4.0 PPG 11.0 RPG 1.8 APG 1.25 SPG 1.50 BPGF Rasheed Wallace 15.8 PPG 6.3 RPG 2.1 APG 1.08 BPGG Rip Hamilton 20.3 PPG 2.4 RPG 3.0 APG </span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">Key Bench Players</span> <span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:100%">F Antonio McDyess 8.4 PPG 6.6 RPG .8 APG G Lindsey Hunter 4.6 PPG 1.3 RPG 2.1 APG</span><u>My Prediction.</u>Miami in 7
Pistons in 6. They are ready to go, sometimes a long time off can hurt, and I think that might be the case here. The Pistons are also going to be fired up after a game seven victory.GO PISTONS!!
Well not always does it hurt,the more rest Shaq gets the better he plays.Furthermore,even if they have more rest that will only cost them what,the first game of the series?I'm not really sure about Detroit just because of the trouble the Cavs seemed to give them,should be an interesting series.
Might sound a little bold, but I'm going Heat in 6. As I said I think the rest will be beneficial for us, mianly Shaq and we will come out strong. I think Detroit has lost some confidence in their series with Cleveland going to 7 games and therefore cause them to struggle some. Again though, I wouldn't be surprised either if we end up losing this series, because we've been very inconsistent during the beginning of the playoffs and the Pistons are a great team so you never know what's going to happen. Should be a VERY exciting series though and I'm looking foward to it.
Go Miami! I would love to see Shaquille O'Neal in another NBA Finals series. Miami and Detroit will have some fun matchups:Jason Williams vs. Chauncy BillupsI think Chauncy wins the battle there. Jason is a creative passer and has a great, pure, shot. But Chauncy is the better shooter, and better ball-handler. Not to mention Chauncy is the better leader.Dwyane Wade vs. Richard HamiltonThis will go either way. Dwyane Wade is very explosive and a great mid-range shooter. He can take Rip to the basket anytime. Richard is probably the worst (not bad overall, but not great) defender on that Pistons' starting 5. And Dwyane is good enough of a scorer to beat him on the offensive end. On the other end, Wade doesn't defend much either, and Rip moves excellent without the ball, and will get some easy buckets if Flash doesn't move as fast as Hamilton.James Posey vs. Tayshaun PrinceA good shooter vs a great defender. Don't know much about Posey, but I know hes a good shooter. And I know Prince is an excellent defender. Maybe Ill learn about both of them by watching the series.Antoine Walker or Haslem vs. RasheedHaslem is not an offensive threat, Rasheed can take him out to the perimeter and score on him. Rasheed wins against Haslem. Against Walker, Toine isnt a good defender, and Rasheed is a good defender, so its vice-versa and Rasheed wins against both.Shaq vs. Ben WallaceShaq wins this. He'll have help from Zo on defense, and Wallace will have Dale Davis. Anyways Alonzo will help defend Rasheed too. Shaq will score against Ben, but not too often. I think he can use his size to his advantage. When Ben gets to tight on him he can pass it to Toine or Posey. Two open forwards can cause trouble for the Pistons.I think this series will be Exciting, and it will take 7 games. I hope Miami wins. And also, I hope the Suns beat the Clippers because I want to see another exciting series, the Mavs or Spurs vs the Suns. Wow, this years' playoffs are even more exciting than last years'.
I think Pistons will win in 6 games against the Heat because they have the better defense and better team chemistry. I don't think Walker will do as well as he did against the Nets because he's going to face Rasheed Wallace who's a great defender
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lakaboy42 @ May 22 2006, 01:26 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Can we call this a rivalry yet?</div>After this series, I think we can.
Pistons in 6. Should be a tight, well-fought series. I think that Mr. Big Shot will have a huge series as well as Sheed. To win we need a good bench effort, Antonio will play as normal but we need someone like Lindsey to step up like he did in the Cavs series. I can't wait to see some great basketball played and I hope Detroit wins.
The pistons have role players who can hit shots unlike the cavs. The pistons have gone back to their old style D but do they have enough offense to knock down the heat?Don't think so.
Im going to make this short and simple.Detroit in 6.They have the best starting 5 in the NBA and are still the best defense team in the NBA.They are a thunderious 3 point shooting team and have one of the best pgs in the NBA by side them and the best defensive player in the game in Ben wallace.There only downfall is rasheed wallace,but im preaty sure he could out play any PF the heat got.The Heat have a nice team with alot of good players.They have the supporting cast,good starting five,Nice offense and decent defense but they just cant match up against detroit plain and simple.Detroit in 6....
I want the Heat to win because I like more of the players on that team than I don the Pistons. I totally respect the Pistons, probably more than Miami, but I'd like to see a change in the finals, Miami vs. Mavs would be a nasty NBA finals. Miami fans...beware of Antoine Walker .
Heat in 6 or 7, Heat are an amazing team in that they do not need to drive into the basket to make the shots. They have a good bench to keep them going at all times, and they have a solid three (Shaq, Dwayne, Walker) and Alonzo Mourning to back them up. Alonzo Mourning IMO is their edge over the pistons
Walker pulled the last series out of his ass. He wont play like that against the Pistons. Niether will Haslem. Thats the reason they won last series because of thier role players. If Walker didnt get open shots and hit them and the same with Haslem, nets win the series.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jkidd51524 @ May 22 2006, 06:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Walker pulled the last series out of his ass. He wont play like that against the Pistons. Niether will Haslem. Thats the reason they won last series because of thier role players. If Walker didnt get open shots and hit them and the same with Haslem, nets win the series.</div>I don't get what makes you think that,if they've been doing it now then why wouldn't they be able to do it again?The Pistons have better defenders but Antoine is not that bad of a player, he just needs to drive more and that opens up his outside game.The way Antoine along with the bench will decide this series for Miami, Dwade and Shaq are always gonna get their points.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Heatfan32 @ May 22 2006, 06:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I don't get what makes you think that,if they've been doing it now then why wouldn't they be able to do it again?The Pistons have better defenders but Antoine is not that bad of a player, he just needs to drive more and that opens up his outside game. The way Antoine along with the bench will decide this series for Miami, Dwade and Shaq are always gonna get their points.</div> I have to agree with you, although I believe that they could possibely slump in the first game due to their week off, I think they will go through this series strong and fight for a spot in the finals. Udonis Haslem and Antoine Walker will continue to do a great job IMO for the rest of at least this season.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GArenas @ May 22 2006, 05:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Heat in 6 or 7, Heat are an amazing team in that they do not need to drive into the basket to make the shots. They have a good bench to keep them going at all times, and they have a solid three (Shaq, Dwayne, Walker) and Alonzo Mourning to back them up. Alonzo Mourning IMO is their edge over the pistons</div>I don't see how Alonzo has the edge over us. Ben and Rasheed can D up well against him. The big factor for us will be Chauncey he is gonna scorch White Chocolate and get his team involved. McDyess needs a big series for us to pull it out I think. Pistons in 6 as I said before.
