By Paul Levine May 26, 2006, 14:37 GMT
Los Angeles - Ben Wallace got the Detroit Pistons off to a fast start and Tayshaun Prince nudged them across the finish line against a Miami Heat which refused to give up.
The Detroit Pistons' Ben Wallace pulls down one of his 12 rebounds over the Miami Heat's Antoine Walker (back) and Jason Williams (R) during the fourth quarter of game two of the Eastern Conference Finals in which the Pistons won 92-88 at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan on Thursday, 25 May 2006. EPA/ROB WIDDIS
Prince scored 10 of his playoff career-high-tying 24 points in the final quarter, and the Pistons squared the Eastern Conference finals at one-game apiece, by holding off a late charge by the visiting Heat for a 92-88 victory Thursday night.
'We had to bring a lot of energy and Ben Wallace, our leader brought it tonight, said Prince, who grabbed 11 rebounds as well. 'Once he brings it, it feeds through everyone else. I just tried to crash the boards, and do the things I could do to help the team.
'We have to finish the game off better, but we got the win, which is most important. Now, we're going to go down to Miami to have some fun,' he added.
The Heat hosts the next two games on Saturday and Monday when the best-of-seven series resumes.
Detroit's Richard Hamilton tossed in 20 of his 22 points in the opening half, Chauncey Billups had all 18 of his after intermission and Rasheed Wallace finished with 16 before fouling out.
The Pistons looked listless in dropping the 91-86 opener on Tuesday night after finishing off the Cleveland Cavaliers in game seven on Sunday. With a much-needed day of rest, the Eastern Conference champions returned to play with their usual passion, determination and intensity in the near-wire-to wire win.
'Tonight, we came out real focused,' said Ben Wallace, who chipped in with nine points and 12 rebounds. 'Everybody was on the same page. Everybody played hard. Everybody coming off the bench contributed. Once we play like that as a team, we're tough to beat.'
Dwyane Wade scored 32 points but committed a whopping nine turnovers, while Shaquille O'Neal was dominant with 21 points and 12 rebounds for Miami, which nearly overcame an 18-point deficit.
'We took everything they threw at us and we still kept fighting,' Wade said. 'But they were the better team tonight. There's no way of getting around it. You can't dig yourself into a deep hole against them because they will not beat themselves. You have to beat them.'
With Ben Wallace scoring seven quick points and Hamilton having his way on the offensive end, the Pistons raced to a 25-12 cushion after one before taking a 48-37 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Billups and Rasheed Wallace netted nine points apiece, and the Pistons forced nine turnovers as the gap widened to 66-48.
'We hung in there and had a shot at it, but when they opened the lead to 18 points it was hard to come back,' Heat coach Pat Riley said. 'They were a little too committed tonight. They played very well from the get-go.'
The Heat trailed 73-59 after Prince's three-point play early in the fourth quarter but a 10-2 run pulled Miami to within 75-69. The Pistons, however, rebuilt the advantage back to 83-71 after Rasheed Wallace drilled a 3-pointer and Billups buried a jumper with 2:01 left.
But Miami kept coming.
Antoine Walker hit a driving layup and Wade's 3-pointer from the left corner brought the Heat 90-88 with 9.8 seconds left. After Billups made two free throws on the ensuing possession, Wade committed his final turnover, when Lindsey Hunter stripped him of the ball to seal the victory.
'What happens near the end of the game is that you start playing not to lose instead of playing to win,' Pistons coach Flip Saunders explained.
'You wait for that clock to keep on rolling for the game to end, so you lose some of the concepts that you want to stay with. There's no question we did not end the game how we would have liked to end it,' the Detroit coach said.
Your Talkback on this Story