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Pistons aim for series lead after getting back on track

Apr 25, 2008 - 2:35 PM Detroit at Philadelphia 7:00 pm EDT Eastern Conference first round Series tied, 1-1

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) - The Detroit Pistons have left a dismal Game One performance in the past.

The second-seeded Pistons try to take a two-games-to-one lead in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs when they visit the seventh-seeded Philadelphia 76ers for Game Three on Friday.

The 76ers rallied from behind to claim a victory during Game One in Detroit, but any notions that this series was headed for colossal upset were quickly dashed when the Pistons forged a dominating 105-88 victory during Game Two on Wednesday.

"We were focused," Pistons guard Chauncey Billups said. "We had a good night. We were really locked in with the things we had to do, that we emphasized the last couple days. We never let up.

"Everybody, you look at the stat sheet, all the starters played so good, shot the ball so well. Young guys came in and played great. I thought we were just locked in."

Richard Hamilton scored 20 points, Antonio McDyess collected 16 and 12 rebounds while Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince contributed 16 points each.

"This is not a secret," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "This is how they play. Chauncey, Rip, Rasheed, Tayshaun, those guys, that's one of the blessings that (coach Flip Saunders) has on their team. They have different guys that can deliver."

The Pistons held a 53-36 at lead at halftime on the strength of 60 percent shooting from the field combined with Andre Iguodala's 0-of-7 shooting performance.

Iguodala, who led Philadelphia in scoring at 19.9 points this season, finished with just four on Wednesday after logging 16 points in Game One.

"They were trying to get the ball out of my hands by doubling on the pick-and-rolls and they had a great game plan as far as taking the ball out of my hands," Iguodala said.

Andre Miller scored 14 points during Game Two - the most for any Sixers' starter.