OST: Eastern Conference Semifinals: (2) Detroit vs (3) Orlando, DET WINS 4-1

[Tahoe]

MVP of the series is...

Its great to have the entire team playing team ball again. We're hitting on all cylinders.

But the series MVP is either Tay or Rip. Tay has been consistent throughout the series, but Rip stepped up huge when we needed offense in Game 4 when CBill was out.

I guess with Tay game winner and that block last night, I go with Tay, but its close for me.

[Glenn]

Wrapping up the Magic

Where are all those people who were saying, just a few months ago, that Tayshaun Prince had topped out, reached his peak, never be any better than a fourth or fifth option? You would have to agree that he's taken his game up several notches. He does so many things, little things, that lead to wins. The Pistons made an NBA record three turnovers in Game 5, that with a rookie point guard (Rodney Stuckey) playing 33 minutes. Not taking anything away from Stuckey, but Prince was the main reason for that efficiency. He had the ball in his hands more often than Stuckey. He was, for the most part, running the offense and making most of the decisions, from a point-forward spot. His presence also makes it impossible for other teams to trap and pressure a guy like Stuckey. Flip Saunders joked that Prince was able to make that game-saving block because he had been able to get him a lot of rest -- yeah, like exactly three minutes and two seconds. But how can you take him off the floor? Jarvis Hayes replaced Prince for two minutes in the first half and the Pistons were a minus-seven -- In TWO MINUTES?

But here's the freaky thing. What in the world made Prince believe that Hedo Turkoglu was going to go right for that last lay-up attempt? Turk had just beaten Prince twice going to his left, scoring back-to-back layups. But Prince said he was certain he would go to his right the third time, and sure enough, he anticipated the play perfectly and got himself another timeless block. Amazing.

The Magic may go to their grave thinking they were the better team and they "just made mistakes" and the Pistons got all the breaks. But the reality is, they weren't ready. You aren't going to win a conference semifinal series when you have as many turnovers (76) as assists. You aren't going to win any series when you miss 40 free throws in five games. You aren't going to win when your alleged superman treats bounce passes like they are kryptonite. Dwight Howard, for all his improvements, still can't score consistently unless he's dunking the ball. I don't think the Magic will ever be a serious contender with a 5-10 point guard. Listen, Jameer Nelson had a good series. He's as tough and big-hearted as they come. I really respect a lot of things about him. But at the end of the day, he's still too vulnerable at the defensive end. On a championship team, he has to be a sixth man, Ben Gordon type guy. They had two chances to beat the Pistons without Chauncey Billups and couldn't get it done. That's probably going to leave a scar long into the summer for those guys.

I am sure we all will be talking about rust v. rest in the next couple of days. But, with Billups ailing, with Antonio McDyess limping all through Game 5 and with him having to tend to his grandmother's funeral, with Wallace expending so much energy against Howard, with Rip Hamilton and Prince having to shoulder such a heavy load the last two games -- trust me, the team needs the rest. They are playing at a high level right now, and they are a team that can lose their rhtyhm in a blink, but still, rest is best right now.