The Indiana Pacers evened the Eastern Conference finals with their best all-around effort of the series.
Austin Croshere made his first start in more than two years and scored 14 points Friday night, providing the Pacers with a much-needed extra offensive option in an 83-68 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
"It was a little bit of a gamble because defensively you don't get the same type of activity that you do with [Jeff] Foster, but Austin changed the game," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "I just thought it was a gamble worth taking. It's certainly not a cure-all."
Getting off to a rare good start and managing to sustain a respectable shooting percentage, the Pacers evened the series at two games apiece, avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season and regained the homecourt advantage for what's now a best-of-three series.
Coach Rick Carlisle pulled a surprise by turning to Croshere in place of Jeff Foster -- a move even more stunning because it was made by a coach whose resistance to change has been cited as one of his negative personality quirks.
"Rick likes to pretty much keep it simple. He's not one of those guys that likes to change his lineup or change the style his team plays from game to game, but tonight was definitely a change for the better," Pacers guard Anthony Johnson said.
Croshere, who averaged five points this season -- his sixth in the league -- and hadn't contributed much of anything to the Pacers since the 2000 NBA Finals, ended the first half with a 3-pointer and began the second half with another to put the Pacers ahead 52-39.
Moments later, he was left wide open at the 3-point line. As Pistons fans let out a collective groan, Croshere nailed the shot for a 17-point lead that eventually grew as large as 23.
Detroit fans even booed a bit over the remainder of the third quarter.
The series resumes Sunday in Indianapolis, with Game 6 back in Auburn Hills on Tuesday night.
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