Playoffs Game summary : Detroit 88 - Miami 82

Miami, FL (Basketball News) - Richard Hamilton netted 22 points and Rasheed Wallace added 20, as the Detroit Pistons advanced to the NBA Finals by posting an 88-82 win over the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference championship at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Chauncey Billups contributed 18 points and eight assists while Tayshaun Prince netted 13 points with eight rebounds for the defending world champion Pistons, who won the best-of-seven series 4-3 and will now meet San Antonio in the title round.

The Spurs, who downed Phoenix in five games to win the West, will host Game 1 of the NBA Finals beginning Thursday night from SBC Center.

Detroit will be looking to claim its fourth NBA championship as the team also captured the Larry O’Brien trophy during the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons.

The Pistons, who have won four straight Game 7s, are the first team to win the seventh game of the conference finals on the road since Los Angeles beat Sacramento in 2001-02.

Shaquille O’Neal had a game-high 27 points and hauled in nine boards for the Heat, who were denied their first-ever trip to the Finals after dropping the last two games of the set, which included a franchise-low 66 points in Game 6.

Dwyane Wade returned to the lineup for Miami and scored 20 points despite battling through a strained rib muscle. Wade, who suffered the injury during the third quarter of the fifth game, sat out Game 6 after he was in too much pain following pre-game warmups. Wade played 43 minutes and went 7-of-20 from the floor, but did not score a point in the fourth quarter.

The Heat fell to 0-2 all-time in the conference finals.