The Cleveland Cavaliers pushed the Detroit Pistons to the brink of elimination in the NBA playoffs on Friday with a 79-68 victory in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
In Philadelphia, the 76ers edged the Orlando Magic 96-94 to take a surprising 2-1 lead in their series.
Thaddeus Young’s layup with two seconds to play lifted the Sixers to victory.
PHOTO: AP
Philadelphia had stumbled into the playoffs with six defeats in their last seven regular-season games, but are now two victories away from winning a playoff series for the first time since Allen Iverson led them to the NBA finals in 2001.
Dwight Howard had 36 points and 11 rebounds for the Magic. Andre Iguodala led the Sixers with 29 points, while Andre Miller added 24.
Howard’s two free-throws with less than eight seconds to play knotted the score at 94-94.
But Young took a pass near the baseline and drove to the basket for the game-winner.
There were no surprises in Detroit, where Cleveland superstar LeBron James just missed a triple-double, scoring 25 points with 11 rebounds and nine assists on Friday as Cleveland took a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
After Detroit’s Antonio McDyess questioned his team’s collective effort in losing the first two games of the series, the Pistons came out strong. But James neutralized their effort when it mattered most in the fourth quarter.
He had a slam dunk midway through the final period, part of an 18-2 scoring run that started after the score was tied for the sixth time in the game.
“Big-time players make plays and that’s what he did,” Detroit coach Michael Curry said.
James, irked by the lack of calls on perceived fouls against him, eventually put the issue aside and focused on winning the game.
“Once he decided to say: ‘Hey, I’m not getting calls. I’m going to will this team to a win,’ our whole team changed,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. “Watching him flip that switch, it was very exciting.”
James had plenty of help. Teammate Joe Smith had a career playoff high of 19 points and 10 rebounds and Zydrunas Ilgauskas notched 13 points.
Now the Pistons face a must-win game today to extend the series.
Curry had said the Pistons’ chances depended on strong performances from both Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince. Neither delivered.
Wallace scored just five points, while Prince scored seven points in the first quarter and was held scoreless the rest of the game as he battled an aching back.
Detroit’s Richard Hamilton had 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Rodney Stuckey chipped in 12 points and five assists. McDyess had eight points and eight rebounds.
Detroit started strong, scoring the first eight points and then rallying after falling behind by nine in the first half.
The lead changed hands in the third quarter, but James finally proved too much.
“This is killing me,” Hamilton said. “I can’t even lie.”
■WESTERN CONFERENCE
AFP, HOUSTON, TEXAS
The Houston Rockets overcame a lackluster night from Yao Ming to edge Portland 86-83 on Friday and take a 2-1 lead in their NBA Western Conference playoff series.
Luis Scola scored 19 points and Shane Battier added 16 for the Rockets, who gained the upper hand in the best-of-seven first-round series.
Brandon Roy, who scored 42 points in Portland’s 107-103 Game 2 victory, had 19 points, but was only six-of-18 from the field.
Steve Blake scored 16 and had 10 assists, while Rudy Fernandez sank five three-pointers and finished with 17 points for Portland, who trailed by 17 in the second half but rallied to make it close in the fourth quarter.
Portland trailed by nine when Roy converted a three-point play and tipped in a miss by Travis Outlaw to narrow the gap to 78-74.
Scola connected on a jump shot with a minute to play and and Roy missed.
Portland got the rebound and called a timeout with half a minute remaining. LaMarcus Aldridge then drained a three-pointer to narrow the Rockets’ lead to three points.
But Portland’s hopes of coming all the way back dimmed as Roy fouled out with 20 seconds to play.
Aaron Brooks’ free-throw put Houston up 81-77. Fernandez drained a three-pointer from the baseline, but Brooks responded with two more free-throws with 16 seconds to play.
After Blake missed a three-point attempt, Houston returned to the free-throw line to clinch the victory.
Ron Artest and Battier kept Roy under wraps all night, while Portland held Yao to just seven points and Artest had just nine.
“Tough for me,” Yao said of Portland’s effective double-team. “Almost like a sandwich. I cannot let that defense beat me.”
Houston coach Rick Adelman said Yao must create more space for himself, but added that even when Yao is contained the Rockets have other options.
“He’s just got to understand how they’re playing him and be patient enough,” Adelman said. “If they want to take that away and we win the game, so be it.”
“We play as a team,” Scola said. “Because of that, we can afford for Ron and Yao to have a bad night and we still win. And that’s a good thing to have.”
“We defended a lot better tonight,” Adelman said. “If we defend the way we’re capable of defending and played as hard as we played we can win the game. As long as guys step up and we had guys that did step up. That’s what you have to have.”
Portland trailed 48-37 at halftime after starting four-of-16 from the field.
“I thought tonight it felt kind of like helter-skelter out there,” Portland coach Nate McMillan said. “There was really no rhythm, right from the start. It just seems like the team that established itself from the beginning of the game, has been the team that has won the game.”
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