Fargo's **BIG PLAY ALERT** Eastern Conference GOM - 5/1/2008 8:00:00 PM

Detroit Pistons -5 -110

**BIG PLAY ALERT** Eastern Conference GOM Kudos to Philadelphia for making this a series and actually having an advantage for a while by stealing the home court. Not many gave the Sixers a chance in this series, but reality strikes tonight as Detroit is ready to finish them off. I?m not a fan of laying points on the road but in some cases it just needs to be done. When Detroit is motivated, it is tough to beat and when playing a non-elite team, that comes down even more. The Pistons will be motivated and have no interest in going to a 7th game.

Elimination games can certainly give a lot of extra motivation for the team that is down but if there is one team that can negate that, it is Detroit. Since the 2003-2004 championship season, the Pistons are 11-3 in games in which they can eliminate an opponent. In those 11 wins, the average margin of victory has been by 12.5 ppg. And of the three losses, two came during their second-round series last season against Chicago, a series the Pistons wound up winning four games to two.

I expect to see another strong defensive effort from Detroit who has held Philadelphia to 84 and 81 points during the last two wins. It is this type of lockdown defense that makes the Pistons as tough as they are. It doesn?t hurt when the offense shoots 58.1 percent from the floor either, something Detroit did in Game Five. Looking at the Sixers, this series could already be over had Detroit not blown a huge second half lead in game One. The Sixers really hasn?t been playing that great, going 2-7 in their last nine games.

The defensive effort from Detroit over those last two games in big for momentum since it tends to carry over. Detroit is 8-0 ATS after allowing 85 or fewer points in two straight games this season. Also, the Pistons are 16-5 ATS in road games after a win by 10 points or more this season. The Sixers meanwhile are just 5-14-1 ATS in their last 20 playoffs games as an underdog. The favorite is 15-7-1 ATS in the last 23 meetings in this series and that run continues tonight as Detroit finally closes this one out. Play Detroit Pistons 3 Units

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