With a trip to the NBA Finals on the line, injured star Dwyane Wade provided an emotional lift for the Miami Heat, but it was the experience and poise of the Detroit Pistons that won the day.
Richard Hamilton scored 22 points and Rasheed Wallace had 20, including the go-ahead free throws with 1:26 remaining in a 10-3 closing run, helping the Pistons rally past the Heat for a thrilling 88-82 victory in Game 7 to win the Eastern Conference finals series.
"We beat a great team and in order to do that you have to have guys step up," Pistons coach Larry Brown said. "It was a total team win and we played perfect down the stretch. I know Dwyane was less than a 100 percent but he was still phenomenal."
PHOTO: EPA
Chauncey Billups had 18 points and Tayshaun Prince added 13 for Detroit, which fought off elimination Game 6 before capping the comeback on the road.
"This is the best series I ever played in," said Billups, who made four free throws in the final 15 seconds to ice the win. "Miami had a great season but we're still the champs."
The Pistons will look to defend their NBA title on the road against the well-rested Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs beginning Thursday night in the best-of-seven-game series.
The two clubs split the two game regular-season series.
"They're an unbelievable team and they have some great players as we do," Billups said. "Tim Duncan is probably one of the greatest to play the game ever. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are playing great. I think it will be another great series and we're looking forward to it."
Shaquille O'Neal scored 27 points and Wade had 20 but just one decisive final quarter as Miami let a six-point fourth-quarter lead slip away, dashing hopes of its first NBA Finals appearance in its 17-year existence.
"We had the lead in the fourth, but they had more defense and hustle and got to the ball," O'Neal said. "Maybe [the Pistons] had more experience than we did ... I don't think anybody expected us to get this far, but we had a lot of opportunities to get it done ... We just had a phenomenal season. Everybody fought. Guys played well. We almost had it."
Wade put on a courageous effort despite playing with a painfully strained right rib muscle that kept the second-year All-Star guard out of Game 6 and restricted the all-star guard's movement.
"When someone is having to stick a needle in your chest just so you could play..." said Heat coach Stan Van Gundy, referring to the cortisone injection. "He was just phenomenal."
Wade didn't think it was anything extraordinary considering the circumstances.
"Anybody in my position would have done the same thing whether it was taking a shot or whatever it is," he said. "This is Game 7, you want to be at your best, but I really couldn't do that. I couldn't give my all out best but I tried to come out and gut it out. I tried to whatever I could to give these guys confidence that I was going to be with them every step of the way. I think I did that for the most part."
The Pistons led 50-45 on the strength of Hamilton's 16 points while Wade was noticeably slower and finished with eight. Wade began to loosen up in the third quarter though. He hit five of six shots for 12 points, sparking the Heat to a 66-64 edge heading into the final quarter.
"I felt it slipping away, so I thought I'd put it in my hands a little bit," Wade said. "I did what I could do and my teammates knew I only had a certain amount of energy to put out."
The Heat held a 74-68 with 7:11 left that was sliced to 79-78, before surrendering the lead for good.
Wallace made two free throws and tipped in Prince's missed to give the hosts an 82-79 advantage with 1:24 left.
Wade, who missed all six field goals in the final frame, misfired on a 20-jumper with 1:13 remaining, but Damon Jones split a pair of free throws to pull Miami within 82-80.
Billups made two free throws and O'Neal countered with a lay up at the other end keeping it a two-point game. After Billups made two more free throws, Wade missed a 3-pointer and Prince added two more from the stripe as the Pistons began to hug each other in jubilation.
"I thrive being in those situations, where the game is close and I have a chance to ice it," Billups said. "My teammates look for me to do those things and I love to come through for them."
With his head bowed and his voice a whisper, Shaquille O'Neal tried to explain how the Miami Heat's NBA title dreams ended so abruptly Monday night in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.
O'Neal guaranteed a title for the Heat when he signed with the team in the off-season. But he expressed mostly sorrow for his teammates after the Heat lost to the Detroit Pistons, 88-82, at American Airlines Arena.
"I feel a little bit of hurt for the guys in the locker room," O'Neal said. "Almost isn't good enough. We've got to start all over and try to make it happen. Do things a little better. Work a little harder."
Forward Eddie Jones said that several Heat players talked after the defeat about staying together to make another title run next season. "That's how close we are," Jones said.
The loss was particularly painful for O'Neal and the star guard Dwyane Wade. O'Neal was playing with a thigh bruise, and Wade played with a strained right rib-cage muscle, which kept him out of Game 6.
Asked if he played in pain, O'Neal said: "A little bit. But it doesn't matter. A lot of the guys had some injury or another."
Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said before the game that the Heat needed a major rebounding game from O'Neal to neutralize the Pistons' ability to capitalize on second-chance shots. He said that would require 15 to 17 rebounds. O'Neal had six in the first half and finished with nine.
He scored a game-high 27 points and blocked three shots in 40 minutes. The point total was a playoff high this season for O'Neal, who was 3-0 in Game 7's before Monday night.
"We should have looked for him a little more toward the end," Jones said.
The Heat failed to hold a one-point lead with 1 minute 45 seconds left in the game. O'Neal took just one shot after hitting a free throw with 1:45 remaining that put the Heat ahead, 79-78.
"I thought Shaq gave us an outstanding game," Jones said. "He was active around the basket, influenced a lot of shots and generally scored when we got him the ball. Couldn't ask for anything more, really."
Many in the somber Heat locker room said the same about Wade, who was given an injection of painkiller before the game. He finished with 20 points in 43 minutes. He started slowly, missing his first three shots, but carried the Heat to the lead with a crowd-stirring 12 points in the third quarter. He did not score in the fourth quarter.
Through much of the first half, Wade was clearly restricted by his injury. He displayed few of the slashing, acrobatic moves and defensive tenacity that made him one of the NBA's elite players in just his second season.
He looked like a different player in the third quarter, when the Heat turned a 45-40 halftime deficit to a 66-64 lead.
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