Eastern game-time shown, TBA - to be announced
* if necessary

Upcoming Games:

Tuesday at Detroit/Thursday vs. Detroit/Saturday at Detroit (If Necessary): Including this playoff series, Philly has won three of the past five games it has played in Detroit... the Sixers and Pistons have now met eight times this season (regular season and playoffs combined) with each team winning four games.

PLAYOFF NOTES:

• EVERY VOTE COUNTS:Last week, Samuel Dalembert was one of just 20 players to receive a vote for the Defensive Player of the Year Award, which was won by Boston’s Kevin Garnett.  Yesterday, Orlando’s Hedo Turkuglu won the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award.  Both Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams received a first-place vote from a panel 125 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada.  Williams is still a contender for the Sixth Man of the Year Award which will be announced later this week.  Today, Byron Scott of the New Orleans Hornets was named NBA Coach of the Year.  Maurice Cheeks picked up five first-place votes and finished fourth overall in the balloting.

SERIES OBSERVATIONS:

• Since the 16-team playoff format began in 1984, seeds #7 (4 wins) and #8 (3 wins) are a combined 7-49 in First Round Series entering these playoffs.
• Philly won Game 3 by 20 points after losing Game 2 by 17 points… it marked the biggest playoff win for the Sixers since a 33-point victory vs. Toronto on 5/16/01 and the biggest postseason loss for the Pistons since a 20-point defeat at Milwaukee on 4/29/06… Philly recorded 18 double-digit wins this season, including eight by 20 or more and four by 30+… the Sixers only had two wins by 20+ points in 2006-07, with a high of 21.
• Detroit recorded just 16 assists after Sixer opponents averaged 25.1 apg over the final 17 regular season games.
• Detroit scored 75 points in Game 3 after scoring 105 points in Game 2… the 75 points is the fewest points by a playoff opponent of the franchise now known as the Philadelphia 76ers since the Syracuse Nationals (now the Sixers) held the Fort Wayne Pistons (now Detroit) to 74 points in a 3-point loss at Fort Wayne on 4/7/55… Detroit has scored below 90 points twice this series… Philly was 20-7 when opponents scored below 90 in 2007-08.
• The Sixers lost Game 4 despite outshooting the Pistons 46.3% to 42.5% from the floor… Philly was 30-3 when shooting the same percentage or better than the opposition during the regular season… over the past two games, the Sixers are shooting 46.1% from the floor (65-141 FGs) after shooting 41.4% the first two games of the series.
• Philly had held Detroit to 89.8 points per game on 43.6% shooting and the Pistons have shot below 45.0% in three of the four games… during the regular season, the Pistons were 17-21 when shooting below 45.0% from the floor and 41-2 when shooting 45.0% or better.
• Detroit committed 25 turnovers in Game 3 after not having more than 18 turnovers in any game during the regular season… the Pistons are averaging 17.0 tpg this series, after committing the fewest turnovers in the NBA during the regular season (11.7 tpg)… in Philly’s two wins, Detroit has just 34 assists to 38 turnovers compared to 50 assists to 30 turnovers in the Sixers two losses.
• The Sixers have MADE 87 free throws this series while the Pistons have ATTEMPTED 86… over the final 28 games of the regular season, Philly made almost as many free throws (540) as opponents attempted (550)… in the 40 wins this season, the Sixers had almost as many FTM (802) as opponents had FTA (823)… Philly had the second-highest FTA differential (5.1 per game) in the league in 2007-08.
• Philly’s bench is averaging 29.8 points per game this series while Detroit’s is averaging 18.5 ppg… during the regular season, the Pistons bench averaged 29.7 ppg.
• In the two Sixers wins, Andre Miller is averaging 20.5 points compared to 13.5 ppg in the two losses… he is averaging a team-high 17.0 ppg on 53.6% shooting this series after averaging just 10.3 ppg on 42.2% FGs in the regular season series vs. Detroit.
• Andre Iguodala has led or tied for the team lead in assists in all four games this series and is averaging a team-high 5.8 apg… he has 6 steals over the past two games after recording just one the first two games combined… Iguodala ranked sixth in the NBA in steals during the regular season (2.09 spg).
• Samuel Dalembert scored a playoff career-high 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting while adding 16 rebounds in Game 3, becoming the first Sixer to record 20+ points and 15+ rebounds in the same playoff game since Dikembe Mutombo had 23 points and 19 rebounds vs. Milwaukee on 6/3/01… over the past two games, Dalembert is averaging 17.0 points and 14.0 rebounds after having 8 points and 17 rebounds total the first two games of the series… he has played all nine of his career playoff games vs. the Pistons and has six double-doubles… Dalembert is also shooting 14-of-15 from the line this series after shooting 70.7% in the regular season.
• Rookie Thaddeus Young joins Andre Miller as the only Sixer to score in double-figures all four games this series and is the team’s second leading scorer with 11.5 ppg on 57.6% shooting from the floor… he ranks seventh in the NBA in FG% this postseason… Young led all rookie qualifiers in FG% during the regular season (53.9%) and would have ranked tied for 10th in the league if he qualified… he has also committed just one turnover in 111 minutes played this series.
• Lou Williams has 9 assists to just 3 turnovers in the four games this series (84 minutes of play).
• Philly has six players averaging double-digits in scoring this series (Andre Miller 17.0 ppg, Thaddeus Young 11.5 ppg, Lou Williams 11.3 ppg, Samuel Dalembert 10.5 ppg, Andre Iguodala 10.5 ppg, Willie Green 10.0 ppg)… over the final 44 games of the regular season, Dalembert averaged 9.8 points and was just shy of being the sixth player to averaged 10+ points for the Sixers over that span (Iguodala, Miller, Green, Williams, Young).