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Pistons calm before storm

Players say they aren't frustrated, and Rasheed Wallace predicts Game 4 win.

INDIANAPOLIS -- You could argue that Game 4 today against the Pacers is the closest thing to a crisis point the Pistons have had since they faced elimination in Game 6 at New Jersey last year.

You could argue it until you were blue in the face, but, as far as the Pistons are concerned, you would be wrong.

"We don't feel like it's a crisis," Richard Hamilton said. "It's a seven-game series. ... We know we still have a lot going our way."

The Pistons, after a galling 79-74 loss Friday night, trail the Pacers, 2-1. Another loss and they would face the prospect of coming home on the brink of an early and unexpected elimination.

"We're not frustrated at all," said Hamilton, who has made 12 of 33 shots with 12 turnovers in the last two games. "We know what we've got to do. We've been in this situation and we know what it takes to play the way we want to play."

And that is?

"We just have to come out and play like we played in the second half (Friday) for the full 48 minutes," he said. "We haven't played a full 48 minutes the last two games. We have to find a way to do that."

The Pacers seem poised and eager to push the Pistons to the edge.

"We're not a bum team that's playing off fumes," Jermaine O'Neal said. "We're a team that's very well coached, that has talent and has a lot of experience.

"Winning a Game 4 is going to be big for us, sending those guys back to Detroit down 3-1. That's a very big obstacle to get over."

Rasheed Wallace said he doesn't think the Pistons will have to worry about that.

"We are definitely going back to Detroit with this thing tied 2-2," Wallace said after the game. "No question about it."

Guarantees aside, coach Larry Brown maintained a high level of optimism Saturday.

"We know we have to play our best game by far to be in a position to win," he said. "The way I look at it, we haven't played our whole game the last two games and we had chances to win. Everybody knows what we have to do to be better."

The Pistons defended well enough to win Friday. The Pacers shot 36 percent and scored 12 of their 21 fourth-quarter points from the free-throw line.

But the Pistons sputtered badly, and uncharacteristically, on offense. After three quarters Friday, they were shooting 31 percent. They finished at 36.9.

"They've done a good job of knowing our plays, understanding what our play calls are and knowing where we like to go," said Tayshaun Prince, who had nine points and shot 2-for-8 Friday. "They're getting to our spots before we even run the play, so they are pushing us off the block and out of our spots."

The Pistons have had 33 turnovers the last two games. Instead of passing inside-outside and side-to-side, and making the Pacers' defense move, they have suddenly become a dribble-drive team, trying to attack constantly off the dribble.

That has been the equivalent of running their heads into a wall, as the Pacers continue to sag and collapse their defense.

The Pistons have scored 20 points in the lane the last two games and were outscored by 26 -- this against a team that had been outscored in the lane, 318-194, in its eight previous playoff games.

"If we move the ball, our percentages will go up," Brown said. "Every time we curled off a screen, it seemed like we got a good shot. Early in the game I thought we got impatient."

Chauncey Billups and Hamilton agreed that impatience was the main problem, and that started with them. In the two losses, they have combined for 12 assists and 17 turnovers.

"I think we want to win so badly, we want to play so well, that I think guys tried too hard and did too much on their own," Billups said. "We forgot about playing Detroit Pistons basketball until the end."

Billups said the Pistons will change some of their offensive sets, try to get the ball inside to Rasheed and Ben Wallace more consistently, and give the Pacers some new looks.

"Bottom line," Hamilton said, "is we just have to slow down and take our time. If we move the ball better and make easier plays, we'll be OK."

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Интересную тему открыл Вардан, думаю не помешало бы вставлять суда свежые "силные видеоролики" с сумашедшими взятиями колец.

Также сильные фотки и информировать что как - как это делает Давид с нашим футболом и Лелос с регби.

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18.05.05 12:08

НБА. 17.05. Хозяева вышли вперед

В обоих парах команд, что встречались в матчах плей-офф во вторник, победили хозяева паркета. Действующий чемпион НБА «Детройт Пистонз» выиграл пятый матч у «Индианы Пейсэрз» - 86:67. Счет в серии таким образом стал 3-2 в пользу «Пистонз».

Такой же счет и в противостоянии «Сан-Антонио Спэрз» и «Сиэтл Суперсоникс». «Шпоры» победили в очередном домашнем поединке - 103:90, - и пока ведут в четвертьфинале.

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