Rasheed Wallace played his best offensive game in a month Wednesday, scoring 20 points before leaving to a standing ovation as the Detroit Pistons defeated the Indiana Pacers 85-78.
The victory gave the Pistons a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals. Game 4 is Friday night.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Wallace has been the most bombastic character in a series in need of some spunk given the offensive ineptitude both teams have shown for long stretches.
After guaranteeing a Game 2 victory, he rubbed it in with an expletive-filled rant directed at Pacers fans as he walked off the court following that game.
Wallace had scored a total of 14 points in the first two games while missing 21 of 26 shots, but his offensive woes disappeared at the arena he has called home since mid-February.
He shot 8-for-15 to share team-high scoring honors with Richard Hamilton, who reached 20 points for the 25th time in 32 career playoff games.
"We have a bigger goal ... that's to win the NBA championship," Wallace said.
Ben Wallace added 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting and 16 rebounds and Chauncey Billups scored 14 points with eight assists for the Pistons, who allowed the Pacers to score more points in the fourth quarter (33) than they had in the entire first half (30).
"We had some tough luck with some good shots," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "We gave ourselves a chance, and now we're going to have to get better at both ends."
An almost unwatchable game suddenly turned interesting as Austin Croshere drove past Rasheed Wallace for a dunk that capped a 10-0 run and cut Detroit's lead to 76-75.
On the next possession, Wallace got the ball in the low post isolated against Croshere and made a turnaround 6-footer. He was fouled on the play and made the free throw to reach 20 points and give Detroit some breathing room.
"We knew they were going to make a late surge, so it was just up to us to slow them down," Rasheed Wallace said.
Reggie Miller got open but missed a 3, then fouled Tayshaun Prince while trying to defend him one-on-one on a post-up. Prince made one of two free throws before Al Harrington knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 80-78 with 49 seconds left.
Wallace then attempted an inside shot that bounced twice on the rim before falling off, and Ben Wallace was right there to grab it and put it in. Harrington attempted a 3-pointer from the corner, but Rasheed Wallace got a hand on it and Detroit rebounded with 18 seconds remaining to sew up the win.
Jermaine O'Neal had 24 points to lead Indiana.
The teams flirted with the playoff-record low of 130 combined points until making 34 trips to the free throw line in the final quarter.
One indication of the early ugliness: The Pistons had 10 turnovers and nine points in second quarter.
The Pacers had spent Monday working on their offense at practice, though it was hard to find anything that had been improved. They had a woeful lack of movement on offense, and they began the game hoisting and missing long jumpers.
Lakers 100, Timberwolves 89
Shaquille O'Neal turned in a dominating performance to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 100-89 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday.
O'Neal registered 22 points and added 17 rebounds as the Lakers took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series ahead of today's Game 4, also in Los Angeles.
Despite a strong overall performance, the giant center struggled to hit free throws early and Minnesota opted to send O'Neal to the line often in an attempt to limit his scoring -- a desperate, defensive gambit widely known as the "hack-a-Shaq."
Minnesota's star forward Kevin Garnett ended with 22 points but faltered in the second half.
Harassed by the defense of Karl Malone, Garnett fouled out with just 43 seconds remaining.
"I don't think anyone in our locker room is happy with our performance tonight and I'm certainly no exception," league MVP Garnett said.
All of the Lakers starters put up double digits scores.
Guard Kobe Bryant had an uncharacteristically slow start, going scoreless in the first half before hitting 22 points in the second half.
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