NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. 710AM Radio, ESPN: Several absolutely hilarious Lakers song parodies. (via SbB)

2. Third Quarter Collapse: Excellent breakdown of the Magic's Game 3 win, and something about a free doughnut.

3. Orlando Sentinel: Get your very own Rasheed Wallace mask!

4. Cleveland.com: How long would you wait in line for a 23-cent pizza?

5. Seattle Weekly's Buzzer Beater: The many hairstyles of Vladimir Radmanovic (via BDL)

6. Sixers4guidos: Italian Sixers fans finally have a place to go.

While much chatter following Philadelphia's noble defeat at the hands of Detroit has focused on how much cash Andre Iguodala lost himself with a bad series, no one's much paying attention to the 76er front office's view on the matter. Ed Stefankski, Philly's general manager, talked about Iguodala's contract status with the Philadelphia Daily News's Phil Jasner earlier this week.

"I would say, 'Thank God they're restricted,' because we have no intention of not matching any offer from another team," Stefanski said.

Iguodala rejected an in-season extension offer of $57 million from Billy King, Stefanski's predecessor. Whether he can now command anything close to that remains to be seen. In any case, the Sixers will attempt to complete their business in free agency and the trade market before attempting to re-sign Iguodala or [Louis] Williams.

The "we have no intention of not matching any offer from another team" would seem to be a smoking gun, but I'm more interested in "the Sixer will attempt to complete their business in free agency and the trade market before attempting to re-sign Iguodala" part. Stefanksi's going after a big free agent before worrying about 'Dala.

Iguodala, therefore, is not the priority -- Elton Brand or Josh Smith or Antawn Jamison or Shawn Marion might be. Stefanski's protected, as 'Dala is restricted and Philly can spend whatever it takes to keep AI2. But there's a chance things could get in the way, that Stefanski could be chasing a power forward while someone else swoops in and offers Iguodala $60 million. If Stef manages to pry Smith from Atlanta, suppose ... does it even make sense to pay Iguodala (as Thaddeus Young and Andre Miller lick their chops)? When it comes down it, 'Dala is not going to be first in line for the payday here.

It's all smart on Stefanski's end -- this is the way things should be played. But it's got to be a bit of a wake-up call for 'Dala, the supposed franchise player. Philadelphia may very well be rebuilt by the time Andre's number is called.

For a team that looked destined for the lottery early in the year, the Sixers deserve a lot of credit for not only making the playoffs but also making the Pistons sweat. There are a lot of talented young pieces on this 76ers team, and a coach who knows how to help them improve. This team will be back next year, and if they invest their free agent dollars wisely, they may even contend for home court advantage. (No, seriously.) Let's recap their playoff run:

How They Got to the Dance: Believe it or not, the 76ers were actually one of the hottest teams in the league for a stretch in the second half, winning 19 of 24 from early February to late March. Losing five of six right at the end of the regular season kept them from posting a winning record (they finished 40-42), but that second-half surge was the result of a very young team taking the next step.

How They Got Bounced: Simply put, the Pistons woke up. The Sixers should be commended for jumping out to a 2-1 series lead, but the Pistons were just too deep, too talented and too experienced to simply roll over. That said, it would've helped Andre Iguodala failed to live up to top banana status, a role for which he may or may not be suited; the team's leading scorer in the regular season, Iguodala was held to just 13 points a night on 30% shooting. Even if the team's two wins he was largely irrelevant, a performance that likely cost him a few million off his next contract.

It was a week ago today that the sky seemed to be falling for the Pistons. They had just lost to the 76ers for the second time in three games, looking completely discombobulated and confused in the process.

But then, something clicked. After trailing by 10 at halftime in Game 4, the Pistons suddenly reverted to form and became the team that won 59 games in the regular season. They came back to win Game 4 with an excellent second half, and they simply dominated the young 76ers from start to finish in Game 5 in Detroit and Game 6 last night in Philly.

Who's the guy responsible? The man holding the ball in the picture above. Not only did Tayshaun Prince make Andre Iguodala a complete afterthought in this series (Iggy averaged just 12.6 points per game on 30.6% shooting), he also shot an amazing 78% in the last four games. In a starting lineup featuring three All-Stars, Prince rarely gets the type of recognition he deserves, but without him there's a good chance the Pistons would be preparing for a Game 7 on Saturday at the Palace, or worse yet, already done for the year wondering what the hell just happened.

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

1. And Lo, Mr. Big Shot Awakened, And The Earth Did Tremble: It was only a matter of time, really. Chauncey Billups is too good of a player to have five straight bad games. Billups erupted in Game 5 to the tune of 21 points and 12 assists, looking very much like the underrated superstar we've come to know and love him as. While Andre Miller seemed to plummet to the Earth after his meteoric rise with 13 points on 5 of 17 shooting, Billups lead the charge for the Pistons and putting them firmly back in the driver's seat. Miller having the advantage was a central element in the Sixers' success, and if Billups is really back to playoff form, the Sixers are in deep trouble, on top of it being an elimination game.

2. Welcome Back, Iggy! You Do Remember Which Team You Play For, Right?: Andre Iguodala finally got off the snide for the Sixers and scored 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting to go along 6 assists! Hurrah! Oh, wait. He also turned the ball over 6 (!) times and the Sixers lost by 17. So I'm thinking maybe Iguodala isn't the most important factor in this series. The only game where he's an impact, and it's a blowout. Part of that could be the fact that the Sixers have dominated when they've had more size on the floor. Or part of it could be that when Iguodala's gunning, the offense isn't as effective. If the Sixers want to prolong this series, they need to either get back to what was working with Iguodala stifled, or somehow get all the pieces clicking. I'm not sure that's possible for them, yet.

Notes from a trip to the NBA Playoffs.

The Pistons opened the playoffs with a whimper, dropping two of their first three games to the 76ers and needing to come back from a double-digit halftime deficit in Game 4 to tie the series. I had a hunch they'd pull it out in Game 5 in front of a raucous crowd at the Palace, but I wasn't sure if it'd be another come-from-behind high-wire act or a blowout.

It didn't take long to figure it out.

The 76ers never had a chance after the Pistons kicked off the first quarter shooting 78.9% (15-19) from the field and jumping out to a 35-21 lead. Chauncey Billups, who averaged 13 points on 28.6% shooting in the first four games, scored 14 of his 21 points in the first quarter alone. Rip Hamilton, who missed 12 of his first 13 shots in Game 4, nailed 4-5 from the field for eight of his 20. Both the Pistons and Sixers have squandered leads in this series, but the Pistons held onto this one the rest of the night, leading by as many as 26 at one point before winning 98-81.

After the game, Mo Cheeks described how difficult it was to stop a team in which everybody on the floor was a threat to score. "There was a play that happened in front of our bench where Thaddeus Young was getting ready to rotate," said Cheeks. "He had Rip in the corner, he had Rasheed popping up top, and he was trying to figure out which one to go to. That put it in perspective right there. Do I got to Rasheed, do I go to Rip? He chose to go to Rip; Rasheed hits a three. And that put it in perspective because they have different guys that can make a shot at any time. And they were passing the ball so well, they were on the same page tonight. They were very good tonight."

Notes from a trip to the NBA Playoffs.

Continuing with the "youth is served" meme that keeps popping up this postseason, let's take a look at the 76ers. The last time this team was in the playoffs, they were riding the backs of aging superstars Allen Iverson and Chris Webber. This time around, they have but one player (32-year-old Andre Miller) in the rotation older than 27.

While listening to Mo Cheeks talk to the press before last night's Game 5 match with the Pistons, I couldn't help but notice how much he seems to enjoy the responsibility of teaching as well as coaching.

"I enjoy coaching. I can't play anymore, so this is the closest thing I can do to play. I enjoy all of the things that come with it -- I don't enjoy you guys too much [laughter] -- but I enjoy all the things that go with coaching, and that is what I tell my players. ... I particularly enjoy when I see Lou Williams and [reminding] him about being up the floor and [how he'll have] a chance to get a steal up the court -- and I'll look up and he's up the floor and he's getting a steal. Those are some of the rewards of coaching.

"I'm pretty fortunate in that I have players that listen, they try to go out and do all these things right. And I'm very fortunate in that area that I have these guys that go out there and try and do things right and listen, and they don't always do them right [laughs] but they're out there trying to do them. And that's a very fortunate thing for me as a coach, and I think that's rewarding for our coaches is that you have these guys, you're trying to teach them, you're trying to show them different things about the game and then they go out and try to do it."

Notes from a trip to the NBA Playoffs.

Youth has been served in the NBA playoffs this year. You've seen it by Chris Paul schooling Jason Kidd in the West, and you've seen it by the Hawks and Sixers giving the Celtics and Pistons fits in the East. It's not just an anomaly, either; Henry Abbott of TrueHoop checked the numbers and discovered that players 23 years old and younger have accounted for 21% of the minutes played so far, by far the league's highest tally since the late 1970's.

Pistons coach Flip Saunders knows first-hand the danger of a young opponent, as his team had to claw back from behind 1-2 to being ahead 3-2 against the Sixers. Before Game 5 on Tuesday, he talked a little bit about Atlanta's win over the Celtics on Monday and why youth can be such a wild card.

"It proves that your young, athletic teams, on given nights they can get things going, no matter how good you are, they can cause some problems," said Saunders. "I thought Boston played pretty good [Monday]; Atlanta just played exceptional. I'm sure it it shows a little bit of the parity as far as the league, [but] I think more than anything else it shows that when you look at the playoffs, you can't look at teams' records, you have to look at what the matchups are. And certain teams will cause more matchup problems than other teams."

The first nine days of the playoffs haven't given us much Hair Watch fodder, especially considering we had a whole slew of absurdity last spring. But hey! Samuel Dalembert brings it with a beautiful, beautiful mohawk (the keys with the mohawk being a nice base of hair before the sides are shorn and overall sharpness; Greg Oden's mess should be ashamed).

Dalembert's game -- excellent thus far this series -- has lacked a little tonight; Sam's got 2 points and 5 rebounds as we get close to halftime, while counterpart Rasheed Wallace has 11 points, 4 boards, and 4 blocks (several of them on Andre Miller, whom has been a disaster with 8 points on 3-of-12 shooting).

The Pistons are up 12 at the half. After being accused of jinxing the Sixers on Sunday, consider this a make-up call.

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.