| AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- The Detroit Pistons will host the Orlando Magic in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal less than 48 hours after tipping off in Philadelphia. SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS The way they closed out the 76ers, the second-seeded Pistons are glad to get right back at it Saturday night against the Dwight Howard-led Magic. After a lackluster start, Detroit dominated the Sixers for the final 2 1/2 games of the series. "It's good for us because we started to catch a rhythm late in the Philly series", Pistons guard Richard Hamilton said Friday. "We feel good and we want to go out there and play." The third-seeded Magic have been idle since Monday, when they eliminated the Toronto Raptors in five games. Howard was a big reason the franchise advanced for the first time since 1996. He had 20 points and 20 rebounds in three games, becoming the first player to pull that off since Wilt Chamberlain in 1972. The 6-foot-11 center also blocked eight shots in a game to set a franchise record, an accomplishment with Shaquille O'Neal in the record books. Perhaps fittingly, Howard drew comparisons to both Chamberlain and O'Neal when a Detroit assistant and key reserve was asked who the 22-year-old phenom reminded them of in the league past or present. "In terms of his power and how he takes up space, he reminds me a lot of Wilt", said Pistons assistant coach Dave Cowens, a Hall of Fame player who played against Chamberlain. "He's really athletic, too, a lot like Wilt was as a young player. "You can call him a poor man's Wilt." Theo Ratliff remembers a different dominant pivot watches Howard. "He reminds me of the early stages of Shaq, when he was first coming out of college", Ratliff said. Rasheed Wallace, a 33-year-old center, will defend Howard for starters and the 35-year-old Ratliff will come off the bench to try to slow him down and keep Wallace out of foul trouble. The Pistons roughed up Howard in a first-round sweep last year and he is expecting more of the same. "They've been doing it every time we play them", Howard said. "I've just got to stay focused, not let it bother me, and just play through it." Howard averaged 22.6 points, 18.2 rebounds and 3.8 against the Raptors, putting up numbers in those three categories to rival what Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did during the 1974 and '77 playoffs and Moses Malone in the 1979 postseason. It won't be easy to keep up that pace against the Pistons. "Now the level of competition against him rises", Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "They have got a lot of big bodies to throw at him that are much better interior defenders and rebounders than what Toronto had." Howard said the Magic are up for the challenge after getting swept by Detroit. "I think we can beat those guys if we run and push the pace and play the way we know how to play", he said. "Detroit's a great half-court team, and we want to play up and down." The Pistons have been able to dictate tempo and style of play more times than not in recent years, advancing to the past five Eastern Conference finals. While most teams that have success in the playoffs rely on a star or two and occasionally three, Detroit leans on the same nucleus from its 2004 championship season -- Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. Van Gundy said the Pistons have "four go-to guys" and went on to marvel about their consistent success, perhaps becoming the NBA's version of baseball's Atlanta Braves. "There's no question they're the standard bearer", Van Gundy said. "Sustained excellence over time is more of an accomplishment than a team that can put it together for one great year. "No one else in the East has been able to sustain their level of excellence year after year after year. They may not have a number of championships like the Bulls, but this is in its own way a mini-dynasty." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Related News Topics:
NBA previews, recaps, box scores
Top sports stories
News of basketball
|
