Shaq Gets His Big Ass Back In The Finals

Things may have finally gotten rough enough for Pistons guard Rip Hamilton, who loves to spout his slogan, "If it ain't rough, it ain't right," which has always sounded slightly dirty to me.

The Heat polished off the Pistons in Game 6, cruising to a 95-78 victory. The Pistons shot 33.3% on the evening, compared with 55.7% for the Heat. It helps when Shaq goes 12-of-14 and Jason Williams, of all people, goes 10-of-12. I apologize, but I'm still having a little bit of difficulty adjusting to the idea that a team featuring Antoine Walker, Jason Williams, and a fan base dressed in white is headed to the NBA Finals.

The win seems like vindication for Pat Riley, who I believe still has small portions of Stan Van Gundy's corpse stored in his freezer. For Flip Saunders, I don't know... what's the opposite of vindication? He's really the only major variable on the Pistons teams of 2004/2005 to the 2006 Pistons, and they look, act, and feel like an entirely different team.

So the Heat sit back and await the winner of the Dallas/Phoenix series, and no matter the outcome, or when, the Heat get five full days of rest. The Finals don't tip off until the 8th.

Heat in six [ Detroit Bad Boys] Detriot 78, Miami 95 [ ESPN.com]