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Pistons rally in fourth quarter to beat Heat

Apr 1, 2007 - 9:38 PM AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (Ticker) -- The Miami Heat could be back here in the playoffs, looking for a win. The Detroit Pistons let them know it will not be easy.

Riding a fourth-quarter surge sparked by reserves Carlos Delfino and Antonio McDyess, the Pistons rallied for a 94-88 victory over the Heat in a nationally televised matchup of Eastern Conference powers.

Richard Hamilton scored 19 points and Chauncey Billups added 17 for the Pistons (47-26), who maintained their hold on the top spot in the East and beat the Heat for the second time in three meetings this season.

"We were letting Miami dictate the way the game was played," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "In the fourth quarter, we were aggressive, and we came away with a win."

Detroit and Miami have met in the conference finals each of the last two years and could be on a collision course again this year. In a pair of spirited, intense series, the Pistons won in seven games in 2005 and the Heat in six games in 2006.

The defending champion Heat have been slowed by injuries all season but have climbed to the top of the Southeast Division. A win would have sent a message for the postseason, but Miami squandered a pair of double-digits leads.

"This is just a very - for me, for all of us - just a very disappointing loss," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "Probably for 38 minutes, we probably outplayed them. (We) just broke down. It was a lot of things."

"Every time we play this team, especially here in this building, we know it's going to be a very exciting place to play," Heat center Shaquille O'Neal said. "We obviously came to play today (Sunday) but it's a 48-minute game and the last five to six minutes, we just let it slip away."

A jumper by Udonis Haslem opened a 77-67 advantage with 8:58 to play before the Heat missed 12 of their next 13 shots. In a raucous Palace of Auburn Hills, the Pistons stormed back behind Delfino and McDyess.

Delfino had a pair of buckets before making a steal and dunk that cut the deficit to 79-78 with 6:53 left. McDyess had a dunk and bank shot around a jumper by Flip Murray to give Detroit an 83-78 lead with 4:55 to go.

"I think Carlos and Flip put good pressure on the ball, getting steals and doing an excellent job of coming off the bench," McDyess said. "They got us energy to get back into the game."

"Our bench has been winning us a lot of games lately," Billups said. "There is no secret about that. Carlos came in and played great, Dice (McDyess) played well, Lindsey (Hunter) gave us a lot of energy in the first half. Flip was good."

The Pistons also went to a zone trap defense spearheaded by Hamilton, whose energy in chasing the ball prevented the Heat from finding O'Neal. He had missed the last four games with the flu and a mild concussion.

"Rip Hamilton basically turned the game around with his defense and pressure," Riley said. "Then they started to zone us a little bit. We didn't handle that very well."

"You're looking at a guy who hasn't played in a week, and he played his butt off and changed the whole game," Saunders said.

A leaner by Hamilton beat the shot clock and gave the Pistons the lead for good at 87-85 with 1:53 to play. Billups and Rasheed Wallace sank jumpers on Detroit's next two possessions to make it 91-86 with 47 seconds remaining.

Rasheed Wallace scored 14 points and Delfino and McDyess scored 12 each, helping Detroit's reserves hold a 34-11 scoring edge.

O'Neal scored 23 points, Jason Williams added 21 and Haslem 15 for the Heat, who had 14 missed free throws and 16 turnovers while allowing 17 second-chance points.

"We started giving them easy baskets, then we started giving them second shots, which was a big point of emphasis for us," Riley said. "Then we were missing free throws in the fourth quarter."

The Heat held a 24-10 lead late in the first period before the Pistons put together an 18-2 surge capped by Murray's steal and layup for a 28-26 lead midway through the second quarter.