Rasheed Wallace left his hometown this evening taking homecourt advantage back to Detroit. But in the first half it looked as though the Pistons were not only about to lose homecourt advantage but about to face elimination as well from their first round series with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The first quarter ended with Philadelphia ahead 25-19. Samuel Dalembert and Willie Green did the bulk of the damage with 6 points apiece while Andre Iguodala added 5. Wallace was high for the Pistons with 5 points.
Even though the Sixers could only score one point in the last four minutes of the half, the Pistons were still unable to shave the Sixers lead to single digits. Philadelphia took a 46-36 lead into the locker room. Iguodala led the Sixers with 9 points, Willie Green had 7, and Samuel Dalembert had 6 points and 5 rebounds. Although Andre Miller had 8 points, he also had half of the Sixers eight turnovers.
Tayshuan Prince led all scorers with 10 points. Chauncy Billups and Antonio McDyess each had 8 points. Rasheed Wallace only added 1 point to his first quarter total, but, as could be expected, he also received a technical foul for complaining about a loose ball foul.
Wallace and the Pistons woke up at halftime and realized if they lost this game they would be facing elimination. On the strength of 13 offensive rebounds and13 second chance points, the Pistons doubled up on Philadelpia outscoring the Sixers, 34-16 to take a 70-62 lead into the final quarter. Rasheed Wallace had 10 points in the period.
When he is on a roll, the Pistons are difficult to stop.
It might have helped if Philadelphia had their perimeter shots working. But with their three-pointers missing the mark and the Pistons gathering in rebounds, the Sixers failed to cut into the Detroit lead in the final period.
Detroit’s 93-84 win evened the series at two games apiece. But more importantly, the Pistons took homecourt advantage back to Detroit.
Prince and Chauncey Billups both had 17 while Wallace finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds. Antonio McDyess had 10 points and 4 rebounds. Prince also had 5 rebounds, 4 on the offensive board.
Andre Miller had 12 points for the Sixers, Iguodala 11 and Thaddeus Young 10. Samuel Dalembert gathered in 8 rebounds to go with his 6 points.
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