No NBA team enjoys life on the edge quite like the Detroit Pistons.
Minutes away from witnessing their spectacular season come crashing down on Friday night, they stepped up like champions.
They almost always do.
PHOTO: AP
Summoning all their postseason experience and making every big play down the stretch, the Pistons beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 84-82 to even their series and force a decisive Game 7.
"We know what it takes," Detroit's Ben Wallace said. "We've been together a while. We don't panic."
The Pistons' biggest win of 2006 wasn't secure until the final tick of the clock, when a free throw intentionally missed by LeBron James was nearly tipped into the basket by Detroit's Chauncey Billups -- another unlucky bounce for the Cavs.
PHOTO: EPA
"I got my hand on it, and I almost made the basket for them," Billups said. "When it was in the air, I was like, `Wow, not like this.'"
The series finale will take place on Sunday at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich., where until Game 5 of this series, the Pistons had looked invincible. Before the closing minutes in Game 6, it appeared Detroit might be headed home for good.
Rasheed Wallace, whose Game 4 prediction of a victory and quick end to the series backfired, scored 24 points, Richard Hamilton had 17 and Billups 15 for the Pistons, who grabbed several key offensive rebounds in the final minutes to deny the Cavaliers a trip to the Eastern Conference finals against Miami.
James finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. But Cleveland's superstar had seven turnovers and he and his teammates weren't able to beat the Pistons to loose balls in the final three minutes.
The underdog Cavaliers, who had won three straight in the series, missed a chance to put away the Pistons and now have to come up with another win in the NBA's toughest arena.
"Nobody thought we would be here," James said. "Nobody thought we'd be in a Game 7 against the Pistons. We proved the doubters wrong. We have to prove some more wrong."
Detroit has made a habit of winning Game 6s with its season on the line.
Last year, the Pistons were down 3-2 in the conference finals before rallying to beat Miami in seven games. In 2004, they won Game 6 at New Jersey and then ousted the Nets in Game 7. A year earlier, Detroit won a Game 6 at Orlando and then ended the Magic's season in the next game.
Rasheed Wallace, who has spent the series talking trash, has no regrets about any bold statements or guarantees.
"I can't always be right," he said. "I've got the confidence that we can go out there and whoop up on some people."
Trailing 77-76 after two free throws by James, Wallace flung up a shot off the glass in the lane and was fouled, and his three-point play gave the Pistons a lead they would never let go.
After James was stripped on a spin in the foul lane, Billups hit a jumper from the top of the key as the 24-second shot clock expired, giving Detroit an 81-77 lead with 2:21 remaining.
James, driving to the hoop every chance he could, made four straight free throws to pull the Cavaliers within 83-81 with 1:04 left. Wallace missed a jumper, but Tayshaun Prince tipped the ball to Hamilton, allowing the Pistons to kill more time.
Wallace missed again, but Hamilton ran down the long rebound in the corner before the Cavs fouled Wallace.
Detroit's motor-mouthed forward missed both free throws, but Cleveland's Flip Murray couldn't corral the rebound and Billups was put on the line. He split a pair with 10.1 seconds left, giving the Cavaliers a final chance.
With his team needing a 3-pointer to tie, Cleveland coach Mike Brown screamed for his team to call a timeout, but before the Cavs could, James was fouled with 1.4 seconds to play. James, who went 15-of-18 from the line, swished the first.
He pushed the second one left on purpose and Zydrunas Ilgauskas -- with an unlikely assist from Billups -- nearly got a miraculous bounce off the top of the glass.
When it didn't drop, the Pistons charged off the bench and for the first time in days, could crack a few smiles.
"Cleveland did something that no one did all year," Rasheed Wallace said. "They beat us three in a row. We damn sure couldn't make it four straight."
The Cavaliers welcomed back guard Larry Hughes, who had mis-sed three games following the death of his younger brother, Justin.
After talking it over with his mother, Hughes decided late Thursday night to further honor his brother by going to Game 6.
"She wanted me to do what he would have wanted," said Hughes, who in the days following his brother's death had two teardrop tattoos inked under his left eye. "I'm basically here to help. I'm not here to disrupt anything."
Hughes was activated and dressed but didn't play.
He gave James an extra long hug before the opening tip, whispering something into his teammate's ear.
Spurs 91, Mavericks 86
Michael Finley hit back against the Dallas Mavericks. Now the San Antonio Spurs have a chance to land a knockout punch.
After absorbing the low blow that got Mavericks guard Jason Terry suspended, Finley ignored the taunts from the Dallas fans who used to adore him and scored 16 points, helping the Spurs to a 91-86 victory that forces a Game 7 in a series that certainly deserves to end that way.
Finley scored 10 points in the third quarter to help San Antonio hang close, then made the go-ahead basket on a 3-pointer from the right corner with 2:45 left -- and Dallas' 7-foot star Dirk Nowitzki running at him.
Finley then defended Nowitzki on a missed 3-pointer that could've tied it with 6.9 seconds left. The off-balanced shot landed well short. Tony Parker got the rebound, was fouled and hit both shots, sealing the Spurs' second straight salvation of their title defense.
Now they get another chance at home Monday night.
Finley spent the nine previous seasons in Dallas, playing a big role in taking the club from lottery mainstays to perennial contenders. He was released last summer under the NBA's one-time amnesty clause and is still getting paid US$14.6 million from the Mavericks.
"It's a strange situation for me, but this was a great game," Finley said.
San Antonio got 30 points from Manu Ginobili and 24 from Tim Duncan, who was in foul trouble throughout. Parker failed to capitalize on Terry's absence, shooting only 3-of-15 for eight points. A saving grace for the Spurs was making all 15 of their second-half free throws, something they rarely do.
But other than Nowitzki, who led Dallas with 26 points, 21 rebounds and five assists, the Mavericks struggled.
They shot only 39 percent, with Devin Harris going 3-for-14 and Jerry Stackhouse, Terry's replacement, going 4-for-15. Stackhouse actually started 3-for-4, then went 1-of-11 the rest of the way.
Josh Howard scored 17 points and Keith Van Horn, in his first extended action since breaking his right hand March 31, scored 10.
"We really had a chance at winning this game and playing well, but we just couldn't get it in the basket," Mavs coach Avery Johnson said. "We'll get back to practice Sunday, strap it up and get ready to go back to San Antonio."
The Spurs could become only the ninth team to overcome a 3-1 deficit -- and the second this season. Phoenix did it in the first round against the LA Lakers.
Six of the other winners were at home for Game 7, just like San Antonio will be.
"We're at home so everybody thinks we're going to win, but it's not automatic," Ginobili said.
This series shouldn't end with anything less than a winner-take-all clash. With enough drama and intensity of a great NBA Finals, five of the six games have been decided at the end. The five-point margin matched the second-biggest of the series.
"You just flip a coin and whichever way it lands that's the team that'll probably win that night," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
Having blown their second straight chance of reaching the conference finals, the Mavs' only solace is that they'll get back Terry, their second-leading scorer.
"We love the challenge," Johnson said. "We don't have any fear."
Terry was suspended for punching Finley between his legs during a loose-ball scramble in the closing seconds of Game 5. He joined the team at an afternoon shootaround, but had to watch the game at home.
Dallas controlled the game for three quarters. San Antonio's biggest lead to that point was 2-0. Every time the Spurs went ahead, the Mavericks regained the lead on their next possession.
But Dallas was sloppy at the start of the fourth quarter. San Antonio was, too, but not as bad, and took its biggest lead yet at 74-71 on a three-point play by Duncan.
The Mavericks got three straight baskets to go ahead 81-80 with 3:37 left, forcing the Spurs to call a timeout with an arena-record of 20,986 going bonkers. Parker answered with his first basket since the first quarter.
Dallas seemed to catch a break when Duncan got his fifth foul immediately after. But Harris made only one of two free throws and Finley answered with his 3.
San Antonio essentially dared Harris to shoot in the fourth quarter. He took eight of Dallas' last 22 shots and made only two.
Terry wasn't forgotten. Fans in the entire front row around the court all wore his blue road jersey, the equipment manager wore one of his sweatbands and there were dozens of signs of support -- as well as crude ones about Finley. Among the printable ones: "Public Enemy No. 4," referencing his jersey number.
This was the second time this postseason the Spurs have faced a team missing a key player. Sacramento's Ron Artest was suspended from Game 2 in the first round and the Kings took San Antonio to overtime.
Popovich said before the game that he was wary again because "more weird things have happened when this guy or that guy didn't play."
Nowitzki, Howard and Stackhouse scored all 25 of Dallas' first-quarter points. The Spurs never let the Mavs get too far ahead, though, and went up 28-27 early in the third.
Dallas answered with an 11-3 run and led 47-41 at halftime. It was nearly more as Marquis Daniels stole a pass and made a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but it was released a fraction of a second too late.
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