NBA

Pistons find swagger in time to beat Sixers

By wire services
Published April 24, 2005

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - For the first time since the season opener, Rasheed Wallace strutted into the Palace with the boxing-style championship belts he had made for the Detroit Pistons.

Then the demonstrative forward showed how he plans to help the Pistons defend their title.

Wallace scored 24 of his 29 points in the second half Saturday, helping Detroit pull away from the Philadelphia 76ers 106-85 in the first game of the NBA playoffs.

"There's no pressure on us. Most of the attention is on Miami and San Antonio," he said. "We like being on the back burner."

The Pistons went from Eastern Conference contenders to champions after dealing reserves and No.1 picks for Wallace just before the trading deadline last season. He gave the Pistons just what they needed with his inside-outside scoring, defense and swagger.

"You've got to know "Sheed' to know the intangibles he brings," said Philadelphia's Chris Webber, a former teammate of Wallace's. "You can tell what a difference he makes on their team."

Allen Iverson had 30 points and 10 assists and Webber scored 27, but that wasn't nearly enough for the Sixers.

"We played one quarter of basketball," Iverson said. "That's not enough to beat nobody."

Detroit hosts Game2 in the best-of-seven series Tuesday.

The seventh-seeded Sixers started the game with a nothing-to-lose mentality, and it helped them build a 16-point lead in the first quarter before Detroit took the lead for good late in the second quarter.

Antonio McDyess scored 13 of his 15 points in the second quarter to lead the Pistons' comeback.

"He killed us," Iverson said.

Detroit's Tayshaun Prince finished with 23 points, Richard Hamilton had 17 and Chauncey Billups added 11. Ben Wallace tied a Pistons playoff record with seven blocks and had seven points, four steals and 10 rebounds.

ROCKETS 98, MAVS 86: The jaw-dropping baskets by Tracy McGrady were expected. The clutch baskets by Mike James and Jon Barry? Well, that's why McGrady feels so good about his chances of finally winning a playoff series.

McGrady scored the majority of his 34 points during the first three quarters while visiting Houston was building a big lead over Dallas, then James and Barry helped protect the shrinking margin in the final quarter in Game 1 of their first-round West series.

McGrady's early efforts, highlighted by a long 3-pointer with the shot clock about to expire and Dirk Nowitzki's hand in his face, helped Houston take a 19-point lead early in the second quarter. The Rockets led by double digits until the closing minutes of the third, then Dallas got within 75-71 with 9:16 left.

James scored Houston's next three baskets with two jumpers and a wild layup around Nowitzki. Barry followed with a 3-pointer and the Rockets were back up 84-73 and just 5:52 to play.

Counting a surge to close the regular season, Houston has won eight straight. This was the most significant because it takes away Dallas' homecourt advantage - and it fits nicely with a quirky stat in team history. The Rockets are 17-1 when winning Game 1 of a series and just 5-19 when losing the opener.

Game 2 is Monday night in Dallas.

CELTICS 102, PACERS 82: HEAT: Raef LaFrentz connected from the outside, his teammates dominated inside and host Boston ran all over Indiana in their East playoff opener.

LaFrentz set a club playoff record by hitting all five of his 3-pointers.

Boston will host Game 2 on Monday night in the best-of-seven rematch of its first-round series the past two years. Last season, Indiana swept the series, with an average winning margin of 14.2 points.

On Saturday night, it was the Celtics who got the lopsided victory after a horrible start in which they missed 12 of their first 13 shots and trailed 12-6. But they hit 20 of 31 shots the rest of the half, outscored the Pacers 39-11 in the second quarter and led 57-31 at intermission.

The closest Indiana came after that was 99-81 on Eddie Gill's layup with 2:45 to play.

LaFrentz led the Celtics with 21 points and broke the record for 3-pointers set by Scott Wedman in Game 1 of the 1985 NBA finals, won by the Los Angeles Lakers. Gary Payton had 14 points and Antoine Walker and Ricky Davis added 13 each.

HEAT: Saying his bruised right thigh still hampers his mobility, center Shaquille O'Neal returned to practice but was coyly noncommittal about whether he'll be playing when the Heat open its Eastern Conference quarterfinal series today against New Jersey.

O'Neal was injured a week ago and hadn't been on the court since. Coach Stan Van Gundy said he expects O'Neal, who missed the last two regular-season games, to play.

The 12-time All-Star sounded less certain.

"You've got to start off in the right way," O'Neal said. "I've never missed a playoff game, I don't think. This is the first time where I'm going in iffy-iffy."

[Last modified April 24, 2005, 01:03:20]