Although the Bulls season is over, there is plenty of basketball left in this season. The first round is about halfway done, and so far, there haven’t been too many surprises. I don’t think it is a shock to most people that the Spurs are over the Suns even with the addition of Shaq, Chris Paul is proving he is worth all the MVP-hype and the Lakers are back to being one of the most dominant teams in the league. The only series that is shaping up to be the most intriguing is Pistons vs. the 76ers, where the seventh seed holds a 2-1 lead over one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
While assessing the series during the pre-game show before yesterday’s games on TNT, Charles Barkley said the Pistons are playing “cool” and not to the level that they can. The Pistons have been knocked off after every series after its 2004 championship, he said. They are just not playing hard and when watching the game, it is evident that the 76ers, simply, just want it more.
Every team, no matter what its ranking, has to bring its “A” game to the playoffs. We don’t have to look far to see that every team that comes into the playoffs need to play well to stay in contention. Last year, the Mavericks, who compiled the best record in the league and were a favorite to go the finals, were knocked out in the first round by the eight seeded Warriors. The Pistons got that wake-up call in Game One and responded well in Game Two. In Game Three, the game was over way before the buzzer sounded. They need to come in and play well tonight, otherwise, it will be an uphill battle that won’t be easy to conquer.
The Pistons are playing like they feel they have a right to win the series and the 76ers are showing them that they have to fight for it. During the Pistons’ championship run in 2004, the Lakers came into the series with the same mindset the Pistons have now, and in the end, Detroit was the one with the ring. If the Pistons don’t play hard like that team, they will be watching the remainder of the playoffs like the rest of us.
