The AP reports: Andre Miller scored 20 points and Willie Green had a career playoff-high 17, helping the 76ers stun Detroit 90-86 Sunday in Game 1 of their first-round series. Sixers forward Reggie Evans smiled when told the Pistons were shooting the breeze with Flip Murray during breaks in the game… Rasheed Wallace took the blame for the loss—despite having 24 points, nine rebounds and matching a franchise playoff record with seven blocks—but didn’t think blowing a big lead had anything to do with talking to Murray… Andre Iguodala Iguodala made two free throws with 7 seconds left to seal the win… Iguodala finished with a career playoff-high 16 points after a slow start, Evans had a career playoff-high 11 points and 14 rebounds and Thaddeus Young scored 10 for the Sixers in his postseason debut. Billups scored 14, Richard Hamilton had 13 points on 5-of-17 shooting, Maxiell contributed 12 points and a career playoff-high 11 rebounds and Prince added 12.
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Pistons finish first in attendance
The Detroit Free Press reports: The Pistons went 34-7 this season at home, but went 41-0 in sellouts. For the fifth time in six seasons, the Pistons are the attendance champs in the NBA. With 41 straight sell-outs and an average of 22,076 per game, the Pistons hosted 905,116 fans during the 2007-08 regular season.
Apr. 16: Pistons 84, Cavs 74
The AP reports: With its reserves playing most of the minutes, Detroit closed the regular-season Wednesday night with an 84-74 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team that beat the Pistons four straight times last season and denied them a trip to the NBA finals… Rookie Aaron Afflalo scored 15 points, Jason Maxiell had 13 and Rodney Stuckey 12 for the Pistons, who will meet the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round starting Sunday. Wally Szczerbiak, who has struggled to find his shooting touch since coming to Cleveland in a trade, scored 18 points to pace the Cavaliers. Delonte West, another of the newer Cavaliers, added 11 points and Dwayne Jones had 10 rebounds. Not wanting to risk injury to James or center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cavaliers coach Mike Brown didn’t activate his two best players so they’d be ready for the Wizards.
Apr. 15: Pistons 115, Wolves 103
The AP reports: Flip Saunders only cares about one more thing in the regular season. He wants his Detroit Pistons to get through Wednesday’s game in Cleveland without an injury… Tuesday, Detroit got 55 points from the reserves, including 20 from Jarvis Hayes and nine each from three others. “We’re having a good time out there right now,” said Richard Hamilton, who led the starters with 18… Billups added 17 points and six assists against his former team, while Al Jefferson led Minnesota with 30 points.
Apr. 13: Pistons 91, Raptors 84
The AP reports: Detroit finished the game with its “Zoo Squad”—Jarvis Hayes, Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell and rookies Arron Afflalo and Rodney Stuckey. The group averages just 22.8 years of age, but the youngsters have proven their worth in back-to-back wins over Washington and Toronto… Stuckey led the Pistons with 18 points, while Maxiell and Billups added 14 each. Chris Bosh had his 30 and Rasho Nesterovic added 18, but T.J. Ford (10) was the only other player to reach double figures… Detroit used all 12 players before halftime, but still took a 50-45 advantage into the break. The Pistons outrebounded Toronto 23-13 in the half, including a 7-2 edge on the offensive glass.
Apr. 11: Pistons 102, Wizards 74
The AP reports: With Cleveland and Philadelphia having already lost and facing a Detroit team that is coasting toward the playoffs, the Wizards came out with one of their worst performances of the season, shooting just 27 percent in a lopsided 102-74 loss to the Pistons on Friday night… Detroit, which has clinched the Eastern Conference’s second seed, had played poorly in back-to-back losses to New York and Philadelphia, but Jason Maxiell’s career-high 28 points helped them regain their focus… Antwan Jamison led Washington with 15 and DeShawn Stevenson added 11.
Apr. 9: Sixers 101, Pistons 94
The AP reports: Having locked up the No. 2 seed in the East, the Pistons once again gave their reserves significant minutes. On the other hand, the game was a meaningful one for the Sixers, who remained in the sixth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, a game ahead of Toronto and a game behind Washington, who both won Wednesday night… Andre Iguodala scored 25 points, hitting a season-high four 3-pointers, and Samuel Dalembert added 20 points and 13 rebounds for Philadelphia. Willie Green scored 15 and Lou Williams had 12 points and 7 assists off the bench… Chauncey Billups had 18 points to lead Detroit, which already has locked up the No. 2 seed in the East and again gave its reserves significant playing time. Tayshaun Prince, Antonio McDyess and Rasheed Wallace all played fewer than 30 minutes and scored in single digits. Richard Hamilton (hip) missed his fifth straight game.
Apr. 8: Knicks 98, Pistons 94
The AP reports: Wilson Chandler scored all of his 19 points in the first half, helping the Knicks built a huge lead, and New York held off a late charge from the Detroit Pistons in a 98-94 win Tuesday night… Against an uninspired team, the Knicks led 57-34 at halftime and 79-60 after three quarters… Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince each scored 11 points for the Pistons, who had won five straight… Jamal Crawford scored 16 for New York, which has won two straight after losing 10 of 11 games.
Apr. 6: Pistons 91, Heat 75
The AP reports: The Detroit Pistons locked up the No. 2 seed. The Miami Heat moved closer to locking up 250 chances at the No. 1 pick. Rodney Stuckey scored 19 points, Tayshaun Prince added 14 on 6-for-7 shooting and the Pistons secured the second spot on the Eastern Conference playoff bracket with a 91-75 win Sunday over the Heat. Jarvis Hayes, Jason Maxiell, Juan Dixon and Arron Afflalo each scored 10 points for the Pistons (55-21), who won their fifth straight… Earl Barron scored 20 points for Miami, which lost its seventh straight… Chris Quinn finished with 14 points and seven rebounds for the Heat, which got 11 points and nine rebounds from Ricky Davis and 10 points from Mark Blount.
Apr. 4: Pistons 106, Nets 87
The AP reports: A game after winning while resting three starters, the Pistons didn’t need much from the top five in an easy 106-87 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Friday night. Richard Hamilton sat out with a sore hip and had plenty of company on the Detroit bench. Antonio McDyess only played 25 minutes, Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace played 24 apiece, and Chauncey Billups was only on the floor for 22… Detroit got 45 points from its reserves, led by 14 from rookie Rodney Stuckey… The other positive for the Pistons was Antonio McDyess’s game-high 19 points… New Jersey, which was missing Vince Carter (ankle), trails Atlanta by four games with six games left in the race for the East’s last playoff spot.