NBA FINALS, GAME THREE: Well, what do you say to that? It was even more dominant than Game One. The Pistons looked like the Lakers used to out there, making all the little plays that are the equivalent of twisting the knife when you've already got it buried somewhere in the opponent's anatomy. They doubled Kobe at all the right moments (i.e., when he wasn't expecting it.) They kept the ball out of Shaq's hands when the Lakers bothered to pass it to him. Rip Hamilton outscored Shaq and Kobe combined.

And Rasheed was stil out of the game after the first quarter. Amazing stuff.

Still, two things are bugging me. Well, three things, but the third is just the usual Laker-hating jitters: they'll put into gear, Fisher will start flopping, Kobe will hit some threes, Shaq will do his Superman walk, etc. The two are historical, as I mentioned on Sportsfilter today:

1. The thing about no team ever winning all three at home. Not that the Pistons have to win all three at home, but I can't imagine them wanting to go back to LA. Then again, they handled the Lakers in both games in LA so maybe that isn't that big a deal. But that last minute foul on Rashed doesn't get called at home, though, and if it happens in a Game Seven, the Pistons are outta luck.

2. The thing about no NBA team winning a title without a superstar. However much that is worth. And it's completely arguable as to what constitutes superstar status. I thought I got that from Bill Simmons, but what he actually said is this:

The team with the best player ALWAYS wins the Finals.

This isn't even a theory; it's like saying, "Every summer, it will become hot." Just look at the last 25 years -- only the '81 Celtics and the '89-'90 Pistons teams fail the Best Player Test, but those teams were absolutely stacked (and I still think the '89 Pistons were one of the best five teams ever, but that's a story for another time). Can you imagine a team winning the Finals when they didn't even have one of the top two players in the series? It would be unprecedented. And seeing Detroit win the title while getting no contribution at all from the No. 2 pick last summer ... I can't even imagine how weird that would be.

So....yeah. The sheer unprecedentedness of the Detroit Pistons makes me nervous. Then again, the fact that most everybody picked the Lakers in six (including Simmons; hell, even Kevin Drum) should make you wonder too.

This picture is a pretty good graphical summation of Game Three. Via the DVDVR.

And something completely different:

Congratulations, Maria.