5 Things to Keep an Eye on: Sixers at Pistons, Game 5 - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Mavs-Hornets game tonight.

1. Prince Of Thieves: Predictable? Yes. But come on. Everything I do, I do it for you. Tayshaun Prince lodged four steals against the Sixers in Game 4, and was making the Sixers look silly at times. Throw that on top of his game high 23 points and you have a classic Pistons killer game. Not to be confused with Andre Miller, who's trying to be the Piston-Killer. Prince has had a marvelous series, and is the buoy keeping Detroit afloat with Chauncey Billups struggling and Rasheed Wallace being canceled out by the fleet of young bigs on Philadelphia. But Prince's most vital work has been on Andre Iguodala, making him a non-factor. He can't let up tonight, because the Pistons need to end this thing as quickly as possible to get ready for a sharp Magic team that's resting up for them.
2. Fahrenheit 90: The Sixers are 2-0 when they score 90 or more, 0-2 when they score less than 90. Seems simple, and it is. Shoot better, score more, make the pace faster, beat the Pistons. They want you in a defensive slugfest. It's not much of a strategy thing, but it should definitely be a goal for the Sixers. They need to get out and run as much as possible, especially with Thaddeus Young and Andre Miller. And for you, dear reader, keep an eye on that scoreboard. If it's in the 40s at halftime, Detroit's looking good. If it's at 50, this thing might get tight.

3. Start, Bench? Bench, Start?: Reggie Evans. Thaddeus Young. Jason Maxiell. Antonio McDyess. the power forward matchups in this series have been worthy of their own DVD series produced by FanHouse. Every time one coach makes a move, the other adjusts. And just when you think there's been some sort of consistency produces, the opposite happens. In Games 1 and 3, Antonio McDyess was a non-factor and an athletic liability. Games 2 and 4? An efficient beast. In the two Sixers wins, Thaddeus Young played fewer minutes and fewer rebounds. It's maddening. The interesting thing with Evans is his slow decline. He's had fewer and fewer points each game. The Sixers need another forward to step up.

4. Downtown Sheed: Two wins for Detroit? Rasheed is 53% from the arc. Two losses? 16.7% from the field. As crazy and dysfunctional as it sounds, Wallace has to light it up from three-point land to get it going. Maybe it's a mental thing. Maybe it's just Sheed being Sheed, but the instant offense from the center's threes get him in rhythm and that brings wins.

5. Down With Dalembert: That should be the battle cry for the Pistons. Samuel Dalembert is a huge part of this series, no pun intended, and his play has been the divider between wins and losses. As long as Prince has a lockdown on Iguodala, the Sixers need another points provider, and Dalembert filled that role in Game 3. It's a pick your poison for the Pistons. Go at him with Sheed and you risk getting Sheed out of his offensive rhythm. Leave him be and head to the arc, and Dalembert controls the paint. The balance must be struck for the Pistons to strike down the Sixers.