We’ve all heard it over and again, the Sixers were 18-30 and somehow, someway, found their game and made it to the 2008 NBA playoffs. We’ve heard about young guys bringing new depth to their game, Andre Miller as the stoic leader, and the transition game. We know about their ability to run on the fast break, and we know that down the stretch they beat teams like Dallas, Phoenix, and Boston. That’s all fine and good but as they say, none of that means anything now. It’s the second season for the Sixers, and they got what they wanted: a spot in the playoffs. So now that they made it, what’s the limit for this team? Their first round opponent is familiar and ousted them the last time they were in the post-season: the Detroit Pistons. The Sixers fast break against the Pistons half-court grind it out style. Let’s take a deeper look into the series…

4 games this season

The Sixers and Pistons split their 4 game series this year with each team winning a game on the other’s home floor. The first game was November 23rd when Philadelphia made the trek to the Palace in Auburn Hills and dropped the game by a score of 83-78. The score in itself should be surprising to most. One of the east’s favorites to make it to the finals struggled to hold off a reeling team, Sixers were 3-7 coming in, and win by 5. It’s not as if the Sixers scored a bunch of points late in the game to make the score look good either, the Pistons never broke the game open with their largest lead being 11. Another important note to take is that the Sixers held Detroit to just 41% shooting. The second game of the season series was January 23rd in Philadelphia. The Pistons, at the time 29-13, again didn’t run away with the game. The Sixers fell in this game 86-78, but it was the 2nd quarter that hurt when they were outscored by 7. They actually outscored the Pistons by 1 in the entire 2nd half. For the second game in a row against the Pistons though, the Sixers turned the ball over far too many times.

The third game of the season series was back in Detroit on March 12 when the streaking Sixers upset the Pistons for the road win, 83-82. The Sixers shot just 40% from the field that game (Detroit 45%) but had only 7 turnovers and had 9 steals to the Pistons 3, creating fast break opportunities. It was a character building win and took everything the Sixers had that night. The final game between these teams was a 101-94 Sixers win on April 9th. I throw this game out the window when looking at the teams matching up because the Pistons played primarily their bench. While the game mattered to the Sixers a great deal, they certainly game planned differently against a lineup of Stuckey, Juan Dixon, and Amir Johns

on than the usual starters.

Guard Play

The guard match-ups feature a lot of experience in 3 of the 4 roles. The Sixers will likely be sending out Andre Miller and Willie Green. Miller, who was at the center of all trade talks during the middle of the season, has enjoyed his best offensive season a pro. Besides playing in all 82

regular season games, Andre averaged 17 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 dimes per game; this all in just roughly 37 minutes a game. His backup and perhaps point guard in waiting for the Sixers is young Lou Williams. Lou didn’t start a single game this year, but was extremely effective at times off the bench, averaging 11.5 points and 3 assists per game. On the other side, the shooting guard will be Detroit area native Willie Green. This was a usual year for Green in that he had lots of ups and downs. He finished the season averaging 12.4 points per game, good for 3rd on the team, but he is very streaky. If he’s hot you better look out, but if he’s off that puts a lot more pressure on the rest of the starters to make up the scoring.

For the Pistons, their back court consists of 2 all-stars: Chauncy Billups and Rip Hamilton. Both averaged over 17 points in the regular season and both can shoot very high percentages from anywhere on the floor. Billups was a journeyman in the NBA before finding a home in Detroit where he has blossomed into an all around force for the Pistons. He can hit the long 3’s, is an excellent free throw shooter, plays tight defense, and dishes out the ball extremely well. Hamilton loves the baseline, but as noted, can shoot really from anywhere. When he drives he attracts 2 or 3 defenders and can finish with either hand.

Front Court Play

Neither team has a huge center that will eat up the paint and dominate a game, like a Dwight Howard or Andrew Bynum. In the middle for the Sixers is their 60 million dollar man, Sami Dalembert. Sami averaged 10 and 10 this year, shooting over 50% from the field. But perhaps the greatest strides he’s made is his defensive presence. He averaged 2.3 blocks per game and altered dozens of other shots each game. Whether or not he can stay out of foul trouble will be a huge factor for the Sixers. The Pistons counter with Antonio McDyess. The once injury plagued prospect has found a niche in Detroit for getting dirty buckets and knowing where his shot is on the floor. He’s not dangerous from outside 15 feet, but he knows the game very well and can hurt you with his ability to pass out.

The most intriguing match-up of the series has to be at small forward: Andre Iguodala going against Tayshaun Prince. Prince has proven in playoff series in the past that he can provide shut down defense against some of the NBA’s finest forwards and scorers of any kind. But make no mistake about it, the kid can shoot too. He’s not as muscular and powerful as Iguodala, but can just as effectively use his speed to drive the paint and score. Andre Iguodala, one of the veterans on this youngster team, had a nice season averaging 19, 5, and 5. You know he can dunk and that’s quite the spectacle, but his effort to improve his jump shot has been a great addition to his all around game and has made him much more dangerous. He shot 33% from behind the arc, but when he’s on he can easily drain 2 or 3 long balls in a row. When he has confidence in that rainbow shot of his from the outside, the defense has to greatly respect him, often with the double team. Then you have a mismatch in Reggie Evans on Rasheed Wallace. Wallace has the ability to wear you down inside and outside; the big man can certainly shoot the 3 and will try to every game. Drawing Evans to guard him 20 feet from the basket can clear a lot of space for the other Pistons to make easy baskets. The one thing Evans can do is get Wallace riled up, which isn’t exactly hard to do. The man who is synonymous with the technical foul could easily get frustrated with Evans’ gritty defense which he utilizes on every possession.

Two Huge Factors

Starting this series in Motown is huge for a couple of reasons. First, just take a glance at what these teams did at home and on the road: on the road the Sixers were just 18-23 while at the Palace, Detroit was a blistering 34-7. If the Pistons can get out to an early lead and get their crowd into it, the youth of the Sixers could be rattled quite easily.

Another huge factor in a 7 game playoff series is the experience which clearly Detroit owns. They’ve won it all back in 2004 and they’ve been there some more times in the past few years. This team knows how to win in big games. They’ve played together for years and know what each guy brings to the table. For almost all the Sixers this is their first trip to the post-season. It’s going to spell trouble if they are over anxious, force shots, and try and play outside their game.

Prediction

This is a really difficult match-up for Philadelphia because of the fact that they’re not just playing one of the best teams in the East, but in the entire NBA. The Pistons are experienced veterans with a good bench and 5 starters who all contribute. They can switch up who leads in scoring game by game and have the result. Their half-court attack slows down a lot of the transition attack other teams play against them, and with that, their defense in general is very, very good. They all have high basketball IQ’s and know where to be and who to defend.

On the other hand, the Sixers aren’t proud to just get to the playoffs. This team is very determined and are perfectly fine with their underdog position. They’ve been the underdog all year and were written off of post-season play half way though the year. The target isn’t on their backs, the pressure is on Detroit, and this should be a loose yet focused basketball team. Plus, their 2 losses to Detroit weren’t blowouts at all. Each game they got close but fell into a destructive pattern of missed free throws, turnovers, and mental mistakes.

All in all, I like the Pistons in this series, no shocker there. But in tonight’s first game from Detroit, I’m looking for 2 things. The first is the beginning 5-7 minutes of the first quarter. If the Sixers can start to run up and down the court and if the Pistons start off shooting a bit shaky, that could do an enormous amount for the Sixers’ confidence. The second thing I’m looking for is the reaction and resilience Philadelphia shows if they get down early, or at all by 10 or more points. This team never gave up in any game this entire season. If they get down to the Pistons they have to chip away at that lead possession by possession. No team is impossible to beat, and they have to play smart, balanced basketball. But in the end, the experience, depth, and range of Detroit should prove a bit too much for Philadelphia.

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photos from Flickr (wmirek, tripledoble.es, reubencause, memphisos)