Philadelphia at Detroit (-9, 178)
For a while there, it looked like Flip Saunders was going to be spending his summer looking for a new job. His Pistons were in serious danger of going down 3-1 against the Atlanta Hawks as they trailed at halftime in Game 4, but Saunders finally figured out what he needed to do to beat the Hawks.
Atlanta had been frustrating the Pistons’ offense and snuffing out Rip Hamilton’s shot, so finally the Pistons started rotating screens to get the ball to Chauncey Billups where he was a threat to drive the lane. That forced Samuel Dalembert to stay in the paint, which in turn opened up the three-point shot for Rasheed Wallace, who nailed three long-range buckets in the second half.
That could be the key to the rest of the series.
Pick: Pistons
Phoenix at San Antonio (-5, 197 ½)
As good as the Suns looked in Sunday’s win, let’s keep it in perspective. San Antonio was up 3-0 in the series, none of their starters played more than 29 minutes in the game, and by all accounts, they took a game off.
Now the Spurs are back at home, they’ll be fired up, and everything that worked so well for the Suns on Sunday won’t work this time. The Spurs know how to respond in a situation like this – they haven’t lost back-to-back playoff games since 2006.
As Mike D’Antoni said: "It becomes really a kind of man-up, in your face, who's got the heart, who's got the will, who's got the energy."
That edge will most likely go to San Antonio tonight.
Pick: Spurs
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