Team Colours (performances level)

– McDyess not only personally saw to it that the Pistons wouldn’t get off to the same sluggish start that marked their games 1 and 3 losses with deadly jump shooting, he also played harder than anyone on the floor. He kept a handful of possessions alive by chasing down offensive rebounds he had no business getting to, including a memorable one midway through the third quarter when he flew to the rim to nearly tip in a Tayshaun Prince miss, grabbed the loose ball, took a return feed and nailed a long jump shot to put the Pistons ahead 59-48. McDyess’ 21 points and 16 rebounds led all players. He shot 8 of 14, made 5 of 6 at the line and grabbed seven offensive boards.

SAUNDERS: “I am so proud of him – just how he’ s been, his leadership, happy for him. Yesterday we had a film session. After, he was talking to Chauncey and Juan (Dixon) and Juan was very emphatic, almost like a preacher, that we’re OK. Dice said, ‘Hey, we’ve been talking that everything is all right – we’ve got to make it happen. We can’t talk about it.’ I’ve never seen him with the emotion he has. It’s like he’s got a new personality.”

McDYESS: “I’m kind of fed up with the excuses. Since I’ve been here we kind of have had excuses why we haven’t won another championship. I feel that, you know, if I don’t say anything that we would have another excuse this year. I don’t want us to have no excuse.”

DOC RIVERS: “He’s been the X-factor for them in a lot of ways. He’s very comfortable right now and we’ve got to get him out of his comfort zone. He’s making a lot of shots.”

Blue Collar – With Wallace saddled by foul trouble, Maxiell carried the Pistons offensively during a brilliant short spurt early, scoring six points in 1:15 and supplied most of the bench’s firepower on a night Stuckey struggled to get much going. Maxiell finished with 14 points, three rebounds and a highlight-reel block of a Garnett breakaway dunk attempt in 20 high-impact minutes.

SAUNDERS: “Sometimes when he plays a lot, he uses so much energy that he almost needs a little bit of a rest. He played well last game coming off the bench, played well tonight.”

Red Flag – When Boston lost Game 2, the Celtics’ big three of Paul Pierce, Garnett and Allen combined for 75 points. Their three stars combined for just 43 and just 11 baskets on 38 tries as the Pistons smothered them. McDyess was on Garnett most of the game on a night Saunders decided they were going to play Garnett straight up.

RIVERS: “They didn't play great. Kevin had shots that he normally makes and didn’t make them. I just thought he didn’t have shots when we wanted to get him the ball. He had a lot of jumpers and elbow jumpers instead of getting them on the post and establishing the post game through him. I thought we kept going away from that.”