The garden was dead. Actually, that is not entirely correct; The garden was more than dead. All those press clippings on the pistons and their brave ferocity and their remarkable insight of the deep: it was an exaggeration. It was real.
They were only about nine minutes in the game. Home Court hung on balance. So did the story. Six times, the Knicks have dropped game 1 of a series of the best of seven at home. Six times, the Knicks lost. Dead? Yes. The garden was dead. The Pistons had 98 points. The Knicks were 90. The Pistons could not get lost. The Knicks could not get out of their own path.
Five minutes and 27 seconds later, the Pistons still had 90.
The Knicks were 111.