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Pistons try to even series against upstart Sixers

Apr 27, 2008 - 1:15 PM Detroit at Philadelphia 7:00 pm EDT Eastern Conference first round Sixers lead, 2-1

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) - The Philadelphia 76ers appeared to be just a minor obstacle in the way of another long postseason run by the Detroit Pistons. Instead, they have served as a major roadblock.

Following a resounding Game Three victory, the Sixers look to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series Sunday. In one of their worst performances of the season, Detroit - which averaged a league-low 11 turnovers during the regular season - committed 25 and missed 16 straight shots from the field at one point on its way to a 95-75 loss on Friday.

"They beat us in every category," Pistons guard Chauncey Billups said. "We turned the ball over more than I've seen turn the ball over in a long time. When you do that against that team, it's trouble because they can turn them into points fast."

"They put a lot of pressure on us and we turned the ball over," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "We led the league with the fewest turnovers and we had the fewest points scored off of turnovers. When you turn the ball over 25 times and they score 28 points off of those turnovers and they take your strength and turn it into a weakness, you are going to struggle."

Samuel Dalembert had 22 points and 16 rebounds while Andre Miller added 21 points for the Sixers, who led by as many as 24 points in their first home playoff game since 2005.

"Watching the first couple of games, I realized that I was so much away fro the basket," Dalembert said. "I was trying to stay with Rasheed (Wallace) and not let him shoot the three. ... This time, I tried to get a little closer to the rim and tried to help make a difference in controlling the paint."

The blowout win came despite a lackluster 10-point, six-turnover performance from leading-scorer Andre Iguodala.

Iguodala may have unintentionally made the Pistons' road to a series win even more challenging when his inadvertent elbow while going for a rebound hit Detroit's Antonio McDyess in the face. The forward suffered a broken nose on the play and may cause him to miss Game Four.

"It's been broken before so I'm used to it, but this time they have to set it," McDyess said. "I might have to go back to Detroit. I really don't know at this point. I hope that I can play Sunday but I have to follow what the doctors say. If it is safe enough, I will. I just have to see what they say."

Detroit, which has made the conference finals in each of the past five seasons, has trailed 2-1 in a series six times, with half of those occurrences leading to its dismissal from the postseason.

"I've been with these guys in this locker room and we've been in different situations," Billups said. "We're down (two-games-to-one) right now and our main focus in one game at a time. Try to tie this thing on Sunday and then go back home."