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06/07/2004: "Pistons 1 Lakers 0"

I admit, I was surprised but gratified to see the Pistons beat the Lakers so handily last night. I made three predictions: that it would be lower scoring than expected, that the Pistons would do better than expected, and the L.A. papers would call the game ugly.

On the first two predictions, there is no doubt. The game was low scoring, and the Lakers were not supposed to lose, much less by a double digit margin. On the third, it is not so clear. While a brief scan of major wire stories did not say the game was ugly, Coach Riley did say that his Lakers did not play their game. For me, that's close enough; the Piston's defense took the Lakers out of their game.

I did make a fourth prediction, that the Lakers would win the series. My faith in that prediction is a little shaken. The Lakers just don't play defense like the Nets or the Pacers. Let the Pistons adjust to that and start scoring, and the Lakers have an uphill battle.

On the other hand, Coach Riley pulled Shaq from the lineup for much of the second half, saying that Shaq was tired. Shaq was upset. He made 80% of his shots, getting 34 points. The Pistons did best as Shaq watched from the sidelines.

That scares me. Did Coach Riley effectively throw game one to demonstrate to the rest of the Lakers that the Pistons are dangerous? The Lakers do seem to play inconsistently, playing well some games and not so well for others. This is not the first time Coach Brown won an NBA final opener against the Lakers. He did it as coach of the Nets; the Lakers went on to win the series 4-1.

The best part is, this is the Pistons without Darko. Behold the birth of a dynasty.