Think back to the beginning of the season and recall what you expected the Sixers would give you and how this season morphed into a surprising one of rapid development that resulted in a playoff appearance.

Remember the good times, because once this Eastern Conference quarterfinal against the Detroit Pistons is over, it might be a little hard to focus on the positives.

If I tried hard enough, I might be able to come up with a way the youthful Sixers can move past the vastly superior Pistons, but that would involve concocting a series of devastating injuries to two or three key Detroit players, and we don't want the bad karma associated with that.

Of the teams the Sixers could have drawn in the playoffs, the Pistons are the absolute worst matchup.

The Boston Celtics might have the NBA's best record and the Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers might have the respective star appeal of Dwight Howard and LeBron James, but the road through the East almost always goes through the Motor City, and there is no reason to believe that will change.

"I think Detroit is the best team in the East by far," Sixers swingman Andre Iguodala told reporters after the team dropped its regular-season finale against the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday. "Boston, they're having a really good year; you can't take anything away from them, but Detroit is the only team I've ever played against at any level that can turn it off and turn it on within, like, one possession."

That's why you can't put too much stock in the fact that the Sixers split their four regular-season games with Detroit.

That's why the Sixers' 101-94 victory over the Pistons on April 9 is a bit of fool's gold if you believe it indicates they are ready to handle Detroit.

The Pistons, whom the Sixers will face in a best-of-seven series starting Sunday at the Palace of Auburn Hills, won't be anything like the ones they faced in the regular season.

I won't go as far as to say Detroit was bored as it posted a 59-23 record - second best in the NBA - but this veteran team has been jonesing for the 2008 playoffs to start since it blew a 2-0 lead and lost four straight to James and the Cavaliers in the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals.

But Detroit guard and Coatesville native Richard Hamilton said the other night, "Once you know that it's a tough chance that anyone will catch you or move you down to third [seed], it's tough a little bit, because you want to get to the playoffs and you want to try to get back to the Finals, and things like that."

Sometimes logic yields the cruelest conclusions, and logic says the Sixers will be fortunate to play five games before being sent into the offseason.

Virtually every advantage in this series belongs to the Pistons, beginning with a Grand Canyon-sized difference in playoff experience.

Hamilton, Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince have played in four conference finals and two NBA Finals together. They won the championship in 2004.

As good as point guard Andre Miller has been for the Sixers this season, he is, at most, a wash with Billups.

Statistically, the two are almost identical in a number of categories. Where they differ is behind the arc: Miller infrequently tries and rarely makes (20.3 percent for his career) while Billups shoots 38.5 percent and has a history of making big shots in the playoffs.

Hamilton is a three-time All-Star. Willie Green is second-round draft pick who has made a niche for himself with the Sixers.

Iguodala has an edge statistically over Prince, but Prince's defensive ability could be a neutralizer.

Samuel Dalembert has shown tremendous growth for the Sixers, but I still would take veterans Wallace and Antonio McDyess over Dalembert and Reggie Evans/Thaddeus Young in the frontcourt.

For the Sixers to have any chance against the Pistons, they must play their best ball. Instead, they enter the playoffs playing some of their worst. The loss to Charlotte was the fourth straight and seventh in the last 10 games.

During that stretch, the Sixers lost an opportunity to move up to as high as fifth in the East, thus avoiding the Pistons in the first round. Instead, they wound up with their third consecutive losing season and their fourth in the last five, and missed a chance to finish over .500 for the first time under coach Maurice Cheeks.

Still, it was a positive season of growth for a young Sixers team that should continue to improve. Be sure to keep that in mind during this series with the Pistons. *

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