Chauncey Billups scored 20 of his 28 points in the second half, including a controversial three-pointer in the final second of the third quarter, as the Detroit Pistons beat Orlando, 100-93, in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Tayshaun Prince added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Pistons, who have taken the first two contests. Rasheed Wallace also scored 17, while Richard Hamilton had 14 despite a 4-for-18 shooting night. Jason Maxiell had 11 points in the win.
"In the fourth quarter we played great defense and we didn't do what we should have done offensively, we didn't move the ball," Prince said. "But our defense was huge and we got the stops when we needed them."
Dwight Howard, who suffered a bruised left thumb in Saturday's 91-72 loss, had a big game with 22 points and 18 rebounds for Orlando. It was a sharp contrast to his 12-point, eight-rebound performance in the opener.
Jameer Nelson canned five three-pointers, on the way to 22 points before fouling out for the Magic. Rashard Lewis had 20 points, but accounted for six of his team's 19 turnovers. Maurice Evans added 13 points and Hedo Turkoglu 12 in defeat.
"We just didn't make plays down the stretch and the 19 turnovers just killed us and some very bad plays down the stretch," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I think that our guys wanted it badly and were trying to make tough plays, but just didn't make the plays we needed to make."
After hitting all seven of their three-point attempts in the third quarter, the Magic were just 1-of-9 from beyond the arc in the final period.
"We turned the ball over and we didn't make shots in the fourth, but we had a chance," Turkoglu said. "This was a totally different game than the first one, and now we know we can beat them."
Game 3 of the best-of-seven set is scheduled for Wednesday in Orlando.
Lewis hit two free throws with 5.1 seconds left in the third to give Orlando a 76-75 edge, but then Billups nailed a three-pointer seemingly at the buzzer. However, the clock malfunctioned and was stuck with 4.8 seconds left, causing officials to huddle and make a ruling. The referees were unable to watch a replay because video review, by rule, isn't available to determine when a play started. Officials finally ruled Billups' shot was successful with 0.5 seconds left.
A real-time video replay showed Billups' shot came after 5.1 seconds had expired.
"I knew there was five seconds, so we had to get something up," Billups said. "I saw the guys running at me, so I threw it to Stuck (Rodney Stuckey). I thought he had to shoot, but he saw there were four seconds left, so he passed it back, but I didn't see the clock, so I just wanted to get it up. It's tough to be on the other side of something like that, but we'll take it."
It was tight throughout the final quarter, and Howard's tip-in off a Lewis miss in the lane pulled Orlando within 94-93 with 1:03 remaining. Maxiell then hit one free throw nearly 15 seconds later for Detroit.
Turkoglu took a quick three-point shot, but the ball caromed poorly off the backboard, but the Pistons gave the Magic the ball back again because of a shot clock violation.
Orlando called a timeout with 17.8 seconds left, but Lewis missed off the glass, and Turkoglu couldn't come up with the loose ball in the lane as he was stripped by Theo Ratliff. The ball was ruled off Turkoglu.
It only got worse for the Magic, as Keyon Dooling was called for a foul with 11.7 seconds left, before the ball was inbounded, resulting in one free throw. Hamilton made the shot from the charity stripe. Billups was then fouled with 10.9 seconds left and made both attempts for a 98-93 margin.
Lewis missed a three-point try and Billups' two free throws with 6.1 seconds left sealed Detroit's victory.
The Pistons used a 10-2 run in the opening quarter to expand to a 21-11 lead. Prince's layup capped the burst with 4:26 remaining in the stanza, but the Magic rallied and had the game even after 12 minutes. Turkoglu's driving layup in the final seconds provided the 29-29 tie.
Orlando shot just 2-of-12 from the field in the second quarter and fell behind by a 50-40 margin at the half. Detroit opened the period with a 13-2 spurt, and the Magic's first field goal of the period came on a three-pointer by Nelson, nearly midway through.
Nelson canned a pair from long distance early on and a layup from Turkoglu cut the deficit to 52-48.
A three-ball by Nelson gave Orlando a 65-63 edge with nearly five minutes remaining in the quarter.
"That's why they are so difficult to play," Billups said. "You have to stay on the big guy, but they have so many good shooters that it is tough when they start hitting the three-pointers."
Game Notes
