Were you watching the same game as the rest of us? What I saw was Shaq dominate early on, and then the rest of the Lakers (or should I just say Kobe) decide not to give him the ball anymore and throw up horrible shots.
The Pistons decided not to double team and shut down the other 4 guys on the floor (that includes Kobe, and they made him look like a highschool rookie again). They were going to let Shaq try and beat them. Did the Lakers do the smart thing and get the ball into shaq to either score or free up shooters? Nope, or at least not for long (tho it was successful when they did it). Kobe decided to throw up the ball whenever he touched it (Will the real Medvedenko please stand up?). Malone lost all ability to shoot, hell, people stopped gaurding him. The rest of the players seemed so dazed and confused that I lost count of how many open shots they passed up.
The ONLY player that had any heart, intelligence, or scoring threat on the Lakers that series was Shaq. Kobe is an over-priced, selfish, over-rated, pretty boy, and cost the Lakers the series......and thats just on the court.
The Lakers made mistakes, but give credit where credit is due: The Pistons won because they were the better team.
PS
I can't wait to see the Kobe lead Lakers fall flat next year. The Kings, Rockets, Wolves, and maybe even the Mavericks (losing Nash hurts) out class and out gun them now. Specially if the Miami trade takes place. Shaq should put a curse on the Lakers