Pistons close in on conference finals

Kirk Hinrich, left, of the Chicago Bulls looks to pass against Chauncey Billups of the Detroit Pistons in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals at the United Center in Chicago on Thursday. Detroit won 81-74. PHOTO: AFP

Chauncey Billups and the Detroit Pistons moved within one win of another trip to the NBA Eastern Conference finals on Thursday with a comeback win over Chicago.

Tayshawn scored 23 points and Billups added 17 of his 21 in the second half as the Pistons rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat the Bulls 81-74 and take a 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-final series.

Richard Hamilton had 16 points and seven assists and Rasheed Wallace also scored 16 while grabbing 11 rebounds for Detroit, who will try to close out the series in game four tomorrow.

"We've been here before," Billups said. "We've got to come out and be very aggressive from the start of the game on Sunday and hopefully try our best to put these guys away."

The Pistons have won seven straight playoff games, including a four-game sweep of the Orlando Magic in the first round.

This is the first time the Bulls have fallen behind 0-3 in a seven-game playoff series since being swept by the Boston Celtics in 1981.

The Bulls, who swept the defending champion Miami Heat in the first round, took a 49-30 lead just 1:33 into the second half on a pair of free throws by Ben Gordon before the Pistons went on a furious 20-6 run. It was capped with a dunk by Prince off an over-the-shoulder pass from Billups from the top of the key, cutting the deficit to 55-50 with 2:40 left in the third quarter.

Wallace a 9m 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to slice Chicago's lead to 61-60.

Billups 10 points in the period -- including two 3-pointers -- for Detroit, which started the game 0-of-8 from the arc but finished 6-of-21 overall.

In the fourth quarter, the Pistons took 62-61 lead on a turnaround jumper by Wallace from the right block with 10:11 left. It was Detroit's first lead since a 6-4 advantage early in the first quarter.

"I knew at the start of the game we allowed them to take the first punch, we weren't as aggressive as we should have been," Billups said. "Coming out at halftime we were down 16, all we had to do is take it one possession at a time, get stops and get good shots."

After Luol Deng split a pair of free throws to knot the contest at 66-66 with 7:24 remaining, the Pistons used a 15-5 burst capped by two free throws by Prince with eight seconds left to open their largest lead at 81-71.

The Bulls scored only three points in the final 3:16 on a basket and free throw by Deng with three seconds left.

The Pistons shot just 40 percent but held the Bulls to a paltry 34 percent. It was the third straight game in this series Chicago has been held to 34 percent or less.

"Our defensive pressure allowed us to get in the passing lanes, get some steals and at the other end we got aggressive," Billups said. "We went to the basket. The second half we got aggressive, we played Pistons basketball."

With the score tied, 22-22, with 7:30 left in the second quarter, the Bulls went on a 20-4 run, which was capped by a layup and subsequent free throw by Deng, to take a 44-26 lead with 16 seconds left in the half. Gordon and Brown each scored six points and Deng added five in the burst for Chicago, which held Detroit to 10 points in the period on 4-of-18 shooting.

Deng 21 points and had 14 rebounds and Gordon added 16 points for Chicago, which has won game four just once in four tries when facing an 0-3 series deficit.