Philadelphia at Detroit

Both Detroit and Philadelphia roll into the playoffs playing great basketball. The Pistons went 9-1 straight up in their last 10 games while the Sixers went 7-2 straight up their last 9 games. The similarities end there. Detroit went 54-28 on their way to a Central Division title while Philadelphia went 43-39 on their way to the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons are the defending NBA Champions while the Sixers haven't been able to say that since 1983. The Pistons are a gritty experienced team with a Hall of Fame coach in Larry Brown. The Sixers have three starters in Kyle Korver, Andre Iguodala, and Samuel Dalembert who have never played a minute in the NBA playoffs and a coach in Jim O'Brien who will get to the Hall of Fame the same way you and I get there. That is by driving to Springfield, Massachusetts and buying a ticket. Philly was overmatched by the Motor City boys in the regular season losing 3 of the 4 meetings. The trade by the Sixers that brought them Chris Webber looked good on paper except that Webber looks like damaged goods with a very balky knee. Simply put, this team will go as far as Iverson takes them and we say it won't be very far. One star on the Pistons.