NBA Game Summary - Indiana at Detroit

Auburn Hills, MI (Basketball News) - Ben Wallace scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, as the Detroit Pistons posted a convincing 86-67 victory over the Indiana Pacers in the pivotal Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Tayshaun Prince added 16 points and 12 boards for the defending world champion Pistons, who have won the last two games to grab a 3-2 lead in the best-of- seven set.

"I just wanted to come out and be aggressive and get on the board," said Wallace. "We did a great job moving the ball from side to side and getting putbacks."

Detroit will have an opportunity to advance to the conference finals for the third consecutive season when the clubs tangle on Thursday night for Game 6 at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton both netted 13 points for the Pistons, who have won nine of their last 10 home games in the playoffs.

Jermaine O’Neal scored 14 points and Stephen Jackson ended with 12 for the Pacers, who have now been outscored by 32 points over the past two contests.

Indiana was held to a dismal 37 percent shooting (24-of-65) and was outrebounded by a 52-34 margin which led to the embarrassing loss.

"It was a tough night," said Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle. "I was encouraged with how we started the game. Seventeen minutes in we were up four at 31-27 and I thought we had a good handle on things...But it kind of snowballed from there. The last 31 minutes were not what we had in mind and sometimes it goes that way, but you have to give Detroit credit."

Detroit trailed 31-27 with around seven minutes remaining in the second quarter, but closed out the half with a 15-4 spurt to turn the game around and give the club a lead it would never relinquish.

Wallace netted eight points and Antonio McDyess chipped in four during the flurry for the Pistons, who held the Pacers to only three field goals in the entire period. Detroit led by nine in the waning minutes and took a 42-35 lead into the locker room.

"We went from four down to nine up and most of it I thought was from good defense and terrific offense," said Detroit head coach Larry Brown.

Prince had 12 points and eight rebounds while Wallace also netted 12 points for the Pistons, who made 42 percent of their shots in the first half. Jackson had 11 points and O’Neal contributed 10 for Indiana, which connected on just 37 percent of its attempts in the opening 24 minutes.

Detroit opened the third quarter with a 15-0 burst, highlighted by six points from Wallace and four by Rasheed Wallace, to turn the game into a rout.

The surge was capped by Hamilton’s free throw and extended the advantage to 57-35 with 5:52 left in the frame. Hamilton’s foul shot put the finishing touches on a lengthy 30-4 burst that bridged the second and third periods. During the game-clinching run, Indiana was held scoreless for the first 6:25 of the third period and missed 17 of its 18 shots, a span of 15:43.

Detroit outscored the Pacers 27-11 in the quarter and held Indiana to just 4- of-14 shooting as it took a hefty 69-46 advantage into the final period.

"I think in the second and third quarter with the foul trouble and the quality of opponent, I thought we were great," said Brown. "I thought we made them work for every shot and for the most part gave them only one shot. That was probably as good of a half of basketball as we have played."

The Pacers never made a comeback in the fourth and fell behind by as many 28 points in the lopsided contest.

Detroit led 23-21 after a tightly contested first quarter.