Detroit proves the naysayers wrong, beats Miami
All indicators suggested the Pistons’ reign atop the NBA was minutes from ending. They trailed the Miami Heat by six points, on the road, midway through the fourth quarter. They were shooting poorly, defending ineffectively, and were hearing the bloodlust of a sold-out crowd starving for a title.
“We won the championship last year,” Pistons guard Chauncey Billups said. “And people still didn’t give us that much of a chance in this series.”
Detroit went out and proved the naysayers wrong. The Pistons closed the game on a 20-8 run and beat the Heat 88-82 on Monday night in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, sending Detroit back to the NBA Finals, where it’ll meet San Antonio, the 2003 champion.
The series opens Thursday night in Texas.
“We’ve been through a lot together, and it’s an unbelievable reward when you can handle situations like this and show poise and toughness,” said Detroit coach Larry Brown. “You know, when you coach, it’s an honor to coach — but you’re blessed when you have a group like that.”
Richard Hamilton had 22 points, Rasheed Wallace scored 20, Billups had 18 and Tayshaun Prince added 13 for the Pistons, who became the 17th team in NBA history — out of 91 tries — to win a Game 7 on the road.
Shaquille O’Neal had 27 points and Dwyane Wade, who played 43 minutes despite still battling a strained right rib muscle, added 20 for Miami, which has been to the postseason 10 times and seen its season end at home in seven of those trips. Udonis Haslem had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, the No. 1 seed in the East after winning 59 regular-season games.
“We had a lot of opportunities to get it done,” O’Neal said. “We’re not going to make excuses. We just let a phenomenal season slip away.”
Detroit never lets anything slip away. The Pistons won for the 10th straight time when needing one victory to clinch a series, the second longest streak behind the Los Angeles Lakers’ 12-game run that ended in 2004.
The Pistons, who endured November’s brawl with Indiana and the resultant fallout, plus Brown missing some time because of hip surgery and complications that followed — and a fair amount of injuries along the way — also became the first road team to win Game 7 of an Eastern Conference finals in 23 years.
“It’s a great feeling because we all came together,” Hamilton said. “We all stuck together and we all had each other’s back. To be in this situation again, whew, it’s a great feeling.”
Miami had some spectacular moments, and seemed poised to win its first East title.
Eddie Jones’ halfcourt shot at the halftime buzzer drew the Heat within 45-40 and breathed life into an arena that spent much of the first half looking for a spark. O’Neal closed the third quarter with two straight baskets to give Miami a 66-64 lead.
And Wade, who received a painkilling injection before the game, was somehow dazzling at times.
Yet the Heat never put Detroit away — and paid the price.
“It was what this matchup should have been,” Wade said. “It went seven games. It went down to the last couple seconds. They made plays at the end, you know, that we didn’t make. That was the main thing.”
Haslem hit a free throw with 7:11 left, putting Miami ahead 74-68. Detroit responded, however, peeling off an 8-0 run highlighted by a 3-pointer from Billups that tied the game and a dunk by Ben Wallace that put the Pistons ahead 76-74 with 3:41 left.
O’Neal’s eight-footer off the glass with 2:40 left put Miami back on top, 78-76, but the Heat were outscored 12-4 the rest of the way. Billups iced the game with four free throws in the final 17.3 seconds.
“To not be able to come through with a (six-point) lead in the fourth quarter, I don’t know, it’s going to be months of thinking about that and going over every play,” Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said. “It’s just very, very difficult.”
Wade nearly had enough to get Miami through.
He missed his first three shots, then connected on a jumper with 4:30 left in the first quarter to give Miami what would be its biggest lead, 17-9.
But a 23-8 Detroit run later in the half gave the Pistons a 38-29 lead after Antonio McDyess’ jumper with 5:51 remaining in the second quarter. Detroit hit 11 of 15 shots in the stretch.
Billups hit a 3-pointer with 3:48 left to push it to 41-31, and the Pistons had a chance to take a double-digit lead into the locker room. After a Miami miss, Detroit called a timeout with 7.4 seconds left in the half, but did not advance the ball to halfcourt.
Instead, the Pistons elected to have Hamilton dribble up the court. He drove on Jones, then tried to pass to Rasheed Wallace at the top of the key. But the pass was deflected, setting up some drama.
Jones emerged with the ball, dribbled — and let fly with the halfcourt shot that went in.
But the Pistons’ resilience eventually shone, and they now have the chance to be a repeat champion.
“Game 7 on the road, playing the best team in the conference and the best record, it’s definitely a great feeling to be able to get them on their own floor,” Prince said.
Notes:@ Damon Jones sprained his left ankle in the first quarter, but returned before halftime. He scored only one point. … The Pistons are 4-4 in Game 7s, while Miami is 2-2.