Can this really happen?

If you had told me the Sixers were going to steal Game 1 in Detroit, I could have given you a half-dozen ways how it would have happened.

None of them would have involved huge performances from Reggie Evans and Willie Green.

A big night from the Andres? Sure. Iggy had 16 points, 9 boards and 8 assists. Miller went for 20, 3 and 6. That gave them 9 more points, 5 more boards and 6 more assists than Hamilton and Billups. (To be fair, in 17 more minutes.)

Sam Dalembert coming up huge? Well, only sporadically. Dalembert had 10 boards and 4 blocks, but he was also 2 of 10 from the floor, and limited to 33 minutes from foul trouble.

Louie Williams doing a light 'em up job? Not so much. 9 points on 4 of 12 in 22 minutes. No, he's not shy.

Maybe a huge playoff debut for hot stuff rookie Thaddeus Young? Nope, though 10 in 22 minutes for a guy with zero playoff experience isn't bad.

Uncharacteristic proficiency from behind the arc or the free throw line? Nope. They were 1 of 5 from the former, and 19 of 27 (70.4%) from the later.

OK, well... maybe Detroit just couldn't keep their hands on the ball, and the Sixers were able to get out and run. Nope, turnovers were even at 12.

So, um... how the hell did they do it, and can they do it 3 more times in the next 6 games?

Any reasonable judge of the NBA says no; there is a reason why Detroit is a dark horse champion pick, and they've got an ungodly amount of playoff experience without being too dreadfully old. We are talking about a 2 seed playing a below .500 team here, after all.

And yet... the Sixers have been above a .500 team for a while now, at least if you just consider the last 3 months of the season. Experience is great, but wins are better. No one believes in the Sixers -- seriously, I haven't received a single email or mention about the team being in the playoffs from my local friends, let alone any interest in going to see a playoff game. You can go buy tickets to Game 3 or 4 right now... and we're not talking bad seats, either. (Heck, I just might.)

Detroit never loses a Game 1. They're great at establishing order and tempo early. And yet, here are the 7 seed Sixers, coming from 15 down in the third quarter, getting huge buckets from the extremely offensively-challenged Reggie Evans...

Well, I still don't really believe. But if they can somehow steal Game 2 as well? Well... I'm sure those tickets won't still be available.