AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (Ticker) -- The Detroit Pistons remain unrelenting. The Los Angeles Lakers are unraveling.
The Pistons moved within one win of the greatest upset in NBA Finals history, finishing with a rush in an 88-80 Game Four victory over the Lakers, who appear to be going down in a hailstorm of missed shots and unmet expectations.
An emotional Rasheed Wallace emerged from a personal prison of foul trouble to collect 26 points and 13 rebounds. He teamed with Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton to fuel a 32-point fourth quarter that brought The Palace of Auburn Hills to a fever pitch and pushed the Lakers to the brink.
Wallace took advantage of a hobbled Karl Malone and abused his smaller substitutes as he effectively worked his inside-outside game.
Detroit's defense survived an assault by Shaquille O'Neal, who had 36 points and 20 rebounds but was reduced to a one-man team. As they have throughout the series, the Pistons shut down most of his teammates and corraled Kobe Bryant, who made just 8-of-25 shots as he fired away at will.
For the fourth straight game, the Pistons were the more energetic, hungrier team. When the series started, many wondered how they were going to win one game. Now it's hard to imagine them losing one.
The Pistons hold a commanding 3-1 lead and can win their first NBA title in 14 years here Tuesday.
this stirring game 4 win by detroit got me free lunch this afternoon, and hopefully a movie ticket if the pistons will finish the series on their last home game of the season on wednesday morning.. it'll be a pretty enough consolation after an 'on me' pizza.. as i predicted, pistons in five, it will be..
Monday, June 14
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment