The Miami Heat without Shaq and Wade is like an Italian restaurant without pasta and meat. Which is how you knew the Pistons were in trouble Tuesday night. Several times, with those big threats off the menu, the Pistons fell behind to the bread and veggies of Miami's roster.And you're not going to win that way.One down. Down one."Everybody contributed," said Heat coach Pat Riley, after a 91-86 Game 1 victory in the Eastern Conference finals.And that, for the Pistons, was the problem
BOSTON - It might not be the old Garden, with the rats and the bad air and the leprechauns, but this new Garden has been magical to the Boston Celtics. Now that magic is gone. Whatever role the parquet floor played in the 2008 playoffs - allowing the Celtics to go a perfect 9-0 - was smashed Thursday night by the only team these days that seems unaffected by geography, or anything else for that matter.Beat the House. The Pistons had to do it at some point if they wanted to win these Eastern Conference finals, and they did it in Game 2 the old-fashioned way: They tried harder.
BOSTON - It may not be the old Garden, with the rats and the bad air and the stifling summer heat, but this new Garden has been magical to this year's Boston Celtics. And now that magic is done. Whatever role the parquet floor played in the 2008 playoffs - allowing the Celtics to go a perfect 9-0 - was smashed Thursday night by the only team these days that seems unaffected by geography, or anything else for that matter.Beat the House.The Pistons had to do it at some point if they wanted to win the series, and they did it in Game 2 the old fashioned way: They tried harder.
ANAHEIM, Calif. - The Ducks were down a man and still scored. They had a power play coming and scored without needing it. Dominik Hasek came out unusually high; the puck dribbled through him. Hasek sprawled flat; three pucks went behind him. Like dripping ice, like descending smog, there was karma all over the building Tuesday night - and still the Red Wings almost shook it off, they fought to the choking finish. But in the end, it was covered in feathers and it spoke with a beak. And by the time the sun set here in the West, it had already gone down on Detroit.
BOSTON - Twenty years ago, I took a walk with Joe Dumars through the streets of Boson's North End, an Italian neighborhood not far from the highway overpasses, small restaurants, row houses, residents sitting outside on chairs or leaning from their windows. The Pistons still were trying to win their first title, and we did an interview while walking the streets."DUUUMAHS!" some guy yelled out the window, "YAH GONNA LOSE!" and Joe shyly smiled. He was a young shooting guard, I was a young sportswriter. It was a warm day, and everything felt fresh and ahead of us.
Many people wonder how the Prom began.History shows that the Prom was invented when a caveman named Tux and a cavewoman named Limo met one night, gave each other the googly eye, and then clubbed each other over the head. When they awoke, they couldn't remember a thing, which is still how it works at proms today.Thus the tradition was born.
BOSTON - Well, if that was rust scraping off the Pistons on Tuesday night, it was the Celtics who were scraping it. Don't just blame the six-day layoff. Too many times in Game 1 of these Eastern Conference finals, the Pistons moved to the hoop and suddenly were without the ball - because a Boston player swiped it, poked it, swatted it or just plain took it. Steals? It was like watching a police video on purse snatchings.
DALLAS - It was steaming hot outside American Airlines Arena, temperatures in the 90's, bad ice weather, a bad omen for a northern team, and the Red Wings didn't need any more bad omens. But unworthy teams stumble and fall, while worthy champions stumble but come back harder. And so the Wings, after two losses in trying to close this series, came down to Texas, stood tall against the fire, then threw themselves into it Monday night.
Mitch Albom writes about running an orphanage in impoverished Port-au-Prince, Haiti, his kids, their hardships, laughs and challenges, and the life lessons he’s learned there every day.
