Three Burning Questions with ... P.A. Announcer John Mason

Who's your favorite Piston of all-time? "Isiah Thomas. He's all heart and determination. He really represented what Detroit is all about." Whose music scene do you like more, L.A.'s Sunset Strip or Detroit's Motown? "Motown. It ... all ... started ... here!" As this is Motor City, what kind of Michigan-made car is your favorite? "The new Cadillac two-seater convertible."

Celebs at The Palace

From left to right: Braves outfielder Andruw Jones, NFL great Barry Sanders, Oscar winner Renee Zellweger, rocker Vince Neil, and local rapper Eminem ... Also seen at Game 3: John Smoltz, Steve Mariucci, Steve Yzerman, Kirk Gibson, Allen Trammell, Tom Izzo, and Bad Boys Isiah Thomas, John Salley and Rick Mahorn. The loudest ovations went to Yzerman and Zeke ... Perhaps the funniest, if not oddest, sight of the evening was Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace arriving at the arena in his own No. 30 uniform, throwing the whole throwback uniform trend upside-down. (All photos by Gregory Shamus/NBAE/Getty Images)

Three Burning Questions with ... The Washington Post's Mike Wise

Who's your favorite Piston of all-time? "Oh ... I'd have to say Isiah Thomas, because there was never a bigger little man ever. Best little man to ever play the game. His size, his brain, his heart and what he brought to the floor. Part of me wants to say Kelly Tripucka, but I'd be lying." Whose music scene do you like more, L.A.'s Sunset Strip or Detroit's Motown? "You know, I'm not exactly a music critic, in fact, I have Journey in my CD collection, so I don't know if that disqualifies me, but I'd have to say Detroit hands down. Nothing beats 'I Want You Back' by the Jackson Five. Bringing those kids from Gary, Indiana up there to record a record was the greatest thing since Aretha Franklin. If you take away my Jackson Five and my Smokey Robinson, you take away a part of my childhood." As this is Motor City, what kind of Michigan-made car is your favorite? "I probably wouldn't take any of the Ford stuff, because he kind of had a racist history. I'd have to go with the baby blue Chevy Impala from '63. I think it was Satch Sanders' first car, and I'd like to think of myself driving around like Satch Sanders in a baby blue Impala."

Three Burning Questions with ... ESPN's Greg Anthony

Who's your favorite Piston of all-time? "Isiah Thomas, because I was a point guard too. He really demonstrated what playing the position is all about." Whose music scene do you like more, L.A.'s Sunset Strip or Detroit's Motown? "Motown. It's the music I listened to growing up." As this is Motor City, what kind of Michigan-made car is your favorite? "Well, I rented a Chrysler 300 here, and I've got to tell you, it's pretty nice. I might be driving one of my own soon."

Uniform Choice

On the left, Jacory (L) and Ron -- Inglewood, Calif. natives who now live in Detroit --remain true to their roots, even though Ron hears about his Laker allegiances "every day at work." Meanwhile, Pistons and Shock fans Adam and Olivia might prove to be prescient in their prediction.

Three Burning Questions with ... John Salley

Who's your favorite Piston of all-time? "Bill Laimbeer. As a Piston, if he bled, it was red, white and blue." Whose music scene do you like more, L.A.'s Sunset Strip or Detroit's Motown? "Oh, Motown. Nobody else has a musical history like Detroit. What came out of California was the Doors and Jimi Hendrix. Motown is the real deal, it changed music." As this is Motor City, what kind of Michigan-made car is your favorite? "I'd have a 1967 Corvette. I used to own a '73."

Three Burning Questions with ... ESPN.com's Marc Stein

Who's your favorite Piston of all-time? "You gotta go with Isiah. I'm sure old Pistons fans would tell me Dave Bing belongs up there, and I'm personally a Bob Lanier fan, but it's pretty hard to vote against Isiah." Whose music scene do you like more, L.A.'s Sunset Strip or Detroit's Motown? "I grew up in Southern California, so I can't vote against my home turf." As this is Motor City, what kind of Michigan-made car is your favorite? "As far as I know, GM now owns Saab and I'm a Saab guy, so I would have to go with Saab."

Palace Crowd Comes Up Big

Whether it was a big Zeke, big flames, a big band or big noise from the crowd, the atmosphere at the arena was a big factor in Detroit's big Game 3 win ... Best sign of the night: "It's Hamiltime!" ... Best chant of the night: "We want Darko!"

Three Burning Questions with ... Braves pitcher John Smoltz

Who's your favorite Piston of all-time? "Wow. I've always admired and loved Isiah Thomas. I just loved the way as a point guard he controlled the game, he could take over a game and get his teammates involved. Obviously, he was exciting and it looked like he loved to play the game of basketball. I remember growing up, emulating every one of his moves." Whose music scene do you like more, L.A.'s Sunset Strip or Detroit's Motown? "Obviously, I'm going to go with Motown and Detroit. That's where it all started, I think." As this is Motor City, what kind of Michigan-made car is your favorite? "It's a toss-up between the Ford Thunderbird and the Chevy Corvette, any model way back when."

Lookin' Up, Blowin' Up ...

(Elsa/NBAE/Getty Images)

(Rob Peterson contributed to this story.)