Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton and the Pistons weren't ready to concede their title Tuesday, and Tim Duncan's Spurs weren't quite good enough to earn it as Detroit defeated San Antonio 95-86 in Game 6 to send the NBA Finals to a winner-take-all game for the first time since 1994.
Behind the scoring of their guards and several clutch plays from foul-plagued Rasheed Wallace down the stretch, the defending champion Pistons displayed the resiliency they've become known for to send the finals to Thursday's deciding Game 7.
Billups made five of the Pistons' eight 3-pointers as they matched their long-range output from the first five games combined. Billups scored 21, Hamilton had 23 and Wallace 16 for the Pistons, who played at their peak despite being on the brink of elimination -- just as they did in the Eastern Conference finals against Miami earlier this month.
Coach Larry Brown won an NBA playoff game for the 100th time as an NBA coach, breaking a tie with Red Auerbach for third-most in league history, shaking hands with and hugging Spurs coach Gregg Popovich as the game ended.
There were 23 lead changes and seven ties in the first three quarters before Detroit built a seven-point lead early in the fourth quarter and stayed ahead the rest of the way, handing the Spurs just their sixth home loss in 51 games at the SBC Center this season.
Now, the Pistons will have to try to become the first team in finals history to win the last two games on the road. But given what they've done over the past two seasons, refusing to quit when circumstances are most dire, they have to be considered a legitimate candidate to make a little more history.
"We can fight any odds," Wallace said. "You know, a lot of people thought we were going to be out tonight, but -- they had their Cristal ready and all that stuff, but -- hey, we're going to pop it Thursday."
Once again, ball control was one of the key factors as Detroit committed just five turnovers against 19 assists. Billups played brilliantly for the second straight game, and Hamilton was not affected by the tight defense of Bruce Bowen.
"We're just tough as nails," Billups said. "Our motto is, `If it ain't rough, it ain't right.' We always make it tough on ourselves, but we always find a way to climb out of that foxhole."
Duncan had 21 points and 15 rebounds, but the Spurs' offense rarely ran though him as it normally does so fluidly. Manu Ginobili also scored 21 for San Antonio, which was outscored 24-19 in the fourth quarter.
Rasheed Wallace took the blame for Game 5 -- and then he played a big role in making sure the Detroit Pistons made it to Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
After making a self-described "bonehead play" to allow Robert Horry's dramatic 3-pointer with 5.8 seconds left in Game 5, Wallace made up for it with perhaps his best game of the series.
The passionate forward scored 16 points and played superb defense despite five fouls during the fourth quarter of the Pistons' 95-86 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 6 on Tuesday night.
After his inexplicable decision to double-team Manu Ginobili shortly before Horry hit his wide-open 3-pointer, Wallace knew he had to make amends -- and he did it despite picking up his fifth foul in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter. He went to the bench but couldn't sit down, cheering on his teammates ferociously until he got back in.
"I've got to be heard," Wallace said. "You can't be heard too much from sitting down on the bench, so I try to keep myself in the game even when I'm not in the game."
Wallace then scored seven points in the final 4 minutes, including a 3-pointer with 3:31 to play. He also battled Tim Duncan tenaciously until the final seconds, when he joined his teammates at midcourt to celebrate.
"Nobody blamed 'Sheed like y'all did," teammate Chauncey Billups said, referring to the media. "It's been a tough couple of days for 'Sheed because he's taken so much heat, but he knows that we believe in him. ... He was there, focused, for 48 minutes. He gave it his all. That's what he does, and we're so much better when he does that."
Pistons coach Larry Brown said Wallace's move in Game 5 was a "miscommunication," but at the Pistons' shootaround before Game 6, Wallace put himself at fault.
"I'm still kicking myself, because Larry wasn't out there," Wallace said. "That's commendable for him as a coach, but he wasn't out there. There were five players out there. I was hard on myself because I was the one who did the bonehead move, the [stupid] move, just trying to play some defense and trap Ginobili in the corner.
"He made a good pass, and Rob made a shot for them."
Wallace, who has played outstanding defense against Duncan during the series, was widely credited with inspiring Detroit's championship run last season, and he still hasn't lost his swagger despite his big mistake.
When the Pistons arrived at the SBC Center for Game 6, Wallace was carrying one of the wrestling-style championship belts he ordered to commemorate their 2004 title. He put the belt on a shelf in his locker where his teammates could see it.
After the game, Wallace carried his belt through the arena for all to see.
3 DISPARITY
Both teams made eight 3-pointers in Game 6 -- but the Pistons were thrilled by their unlikely long-range proficiency, while Spurs coach Gregg Popovich wasn't pleased by his team's reliance on the long ball.
The Spurs set a franchise playoff record by attempting 28 3-pointers, but made just 28 percent of them. San Antonio went just 5-for-23 after the first quarter.
"They shot it well tonight," Popovich said of the Pistons, who had just eight 3-pointers in the first five games of the series.
"What is of concern to us is that we shot 28, and that's too many. A lot of those were hurried, a matter of trying to win quickly, skipping steps. They have got to be good shots. They've got to be open 3s, not hurried 3s. Our 3s were more of a problem, really, than the made 3s they had."
LABOR HARMONY
When commissioner David Stern announced the NBA's minimum age had been raised from 18 to 19, he was being overly simplistic and inaccurate.
Under terms of the new six-year collective bargaining agreement, there could still be 18-year-olds playing in the NBA.
Previous eligibility rules stated that American players could not become draft-eligible until their high school class graduated -- wording that allowed some players to enter the league at 17. The new rules mandate players to wait one year after their high-school class graduates, meaning that players born in November or December could be appear in NBA games before their 19th birthday -- provided they graduated at 17.
Rules for international players also changed. Previously, a foreign-born player needed to turn 18 before the draft. Under the new rules (which will not affect this year's draft next Tuesday in New York), international players must turn 19 by the end of the calendar year in which they become draft eligible -- again leaving a two-month window in which an 18-year-old might be playing in the NBA.
PROUD PAPA
Hall of Famer Rick Barry was in San Antonio to cheer on his son, Brent, with the Spurs.
Barry, who won a championship ring with the Golden State Warriors, hosts a daily sports talk show in the Bay area. He was thrilled by his son's decision to join the Spurs after five seasons with the Seattle SuperSonics to chase his first trip past the first round of the playoffs.
"He sacrificed a lot of money to be a part of a championship team, so I'm really happy for him," Rick Barry said. "It's really a treat to watch your son play for a championship."
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