All right, guys. You've done this 77 times this year, in every corner of the country, against everyone that's come to the other side of the court. Play your game, find your shots, play defense, don't be shy, and the Pistons will be nothing more than a series of bruises and a memory. We love going to games at the Garden, but we're happy to wait a week to see you again. Seal the deal in Auburn Hills tonight. Kthxbye.

The game may well hinge on Richard Hamilton's elbow. He either "hyperextended it on a rebound" (Flip Saunders) or threw it out of whack while strangling and beating Ray Allen in the closing seconds on Wednesday. ToMAYto, toMAHto. If he plays at or near 100%, this could be another brutal game. If he's out - well, who on Detroit replaces his 22 points a game? Theo Ratliff? Mitch Albom in Detroit isn't exactly drooling with optimism, for whatever that's worth.

Whatever happens, the Lakers will be waiting. They came from behind, without any ref chicanery, and finished off the Spurs 100-92. The Spurs, incredibly enough, have gotten funny with the loss, cracking jokes about the famous non-call and Manu Ginobili's flopping. We like to think that Harvey Korman's spirit lives on in the San Antonio locker room.

When your coach says, "we got outplayed from start to finish," it's usually bad for business. But Revolution coach Steve Nicol could take comfort in the fact that the "outplayed" Revs still managed to solve D.C. United goalie Zach Wells twice, coming from behind to steal a 2-2 tie and take over first place in MLS. While Matt Reis kept the 2-0 lead from getting any worse, Adam Cristman and the red-hot Kheli Dube found the back of the net.

The Red Sox play in Baltimore tonight, if anyone still actually wants to watch them on this miserable road trip. We'd rather watch the Celtics, or re-alphabetize our bookshelves, or get that achy tooth looked at, or go see Sex and the City. Well, not that last one.

<joke>We caught the 11 o'clock news last night, which led with the story of a man being shot in the shoulder by cops on Boston Common. Reports were that the man fleeing the police was wearing "a blue basketball jersey" and brandishing a fake gun. In other news, Rasheed Wallace is questionable for tonight's game.</joke>