D'oh

Not many teams would've lost to the Heat last night. The Heat were without Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and Udonis Haslem. They were on the 2nd night of a back-to-back, in which their flight from NY didn't arrive until 4:30am. All those factors seemed to point to a rare Piston road win. Unfortunately, the Pistons failed to pull away and ultimately left the game in the hands of the officials.

The final two minutes was a see-saw affair with the Heat taking a 2pt lead, and then Austin Daye nailing a 3 to put the Pistons up 1. Both teams then failed to score on their ensuing possessions, and the Heat carried the ball up the court with 25 seconds left. The Pistons D did a fine job of shadowing Lebron, and the ball ended up with Eddie House. House drove the lane, pump faked, and let loose an off-balance jumper from the corner of the key. The ball fell well short. But the refs bailed him out. They called a foul on Ben Gordon, who bit on the pump-fake. Replays showed little or no contact. House hit both freebies.

With 2.7 seconds remaining, the Pistons had a chance to still win, down just 1. Kuester drew up a stellar inbound play, with T-Mac lobbing the in-bound pass to Austin Daye for an alley-oop. The pass was perfect, and Daye was about to hammer home the dunk. But he got a stiff arm to the chest and another arm blocked his hand. The dunk attempt caromed off the rim, and the game was over. T-Mac was livid. He couldn't believe there was call. Neither could I, honestly. If Gordon received a phantom foul the previous possession, why wasn't there a whistle when the contact was more obvious?

Well, these things happen in the NBA, especially when you're the lowly Pistons playing the mighty Heat in their home arena.

Ultimately, though, the Pistons have themselves to blame. They had plenty of opportunities to put the Heat away. Often throughout the game, the Pistons led by 8, only to let the Heat crawl back in. Then, when it comes down to the officials, well... the losing teams are rarely going to get the benefit of the whistles.

One nice thing about this game, though, was another clutch 3 by Austin Daye. As the Pistons prepare for life sans-Tayshaun, it's nice to see Daye will at least have no problem handling the scoring burden. Whether he provides Prince's defense, passing acumen, or knack for the game-saving-play remains to be seen.

It was also great to see T-Mac display visible frustration at the end. The dude is in his waning years, on two bum legs, getting paid the minimum on a crap team. Yet he still cares. That's endeared him to Piston fans and the front office. I'd be surprised if he signed a long-term deal with Detroit, but I definitely think Joe D should make a play to keep him in the D for at least one more season. He's helped this team tremendously, both with his play and leadership.