Indianapolis, IN (Basketball News) - Reggie Miller scored 17 points and hit a number of clutch shots down the stretch, as the Indiana Pacers held off the Detroit Pistons, 79-74, at Conseco Fieldhouse in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Miller scored eight of his points in the fourth quarter, hitting four straight free throws and then a clinching jumper with 10.7 seconds left. Indiana, which relinquished a 14-point fourth-quarter lead, responded to take a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven series.
Jamaal Tinsley added 16 points and six assist for the Pacers, who led by as many as 18 points in the game and 17 points in the second half. Jeff Foster added eight points and 12 rebounds, as Indiana scored eight of the game’s final 10 points to secure the win.
"We were fortunate to win tonight," said Miller. We did a good job on defense. They missed a lot of point-blank shots, which usually doesn’t happen."
Chauncey Billups had a game-high 23 points for Detroit, which has dropped two in a row in this series after taking the opener.
Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday in Indiana.
Down 64-51 early in the fourth, Detroit began to chip away at the Pacers’ lead. A 10-3 run by the Pistons cut the deficit to 67-61 with 5:58 remaining.
Tinsley then hit a jumper with 5:22 left to extend the lead to 69-61, but that would be the final field goal from the floor for Indiana until the final seconds.
That drought allowed the Pistons to take their first lead since being ahead 4-2 in the early stages of the game.
Rasheed Wallace began an 11-2 run by Detroit that gave the team a 72-71 edge when Billups drained a pair of free throws with 2:30 left. Wallace had five points during the surge and managed to draw a sixth and final foul on Indiana’s Jermaine O’Neal with 2:30 remaining.
That, however, would be the last lead for the Pistons. With 1:21 on the clock Miller hit the first of four straight free throws, ending it with a pair at the 59 second mark.
Foster later added a three and after Wallace drained a long jumper to make it a 77-74 game, Miller ended the Pacers’ shooting drought and sealed the victory with a jumper over Lindsay Hunter with 10.7 seconds left.
"It was an unbelievable shot he hit," said Detroit head coach Larry Brown. "But how did he get so open? He got in position and like I always say, great players make great plays."
There was a question as to whether or not Miller pushed off on Hunter to free himself for the basket.
Wallace ended with 13 points and nine boards and Richard Hamilton had 16 points for Detroit, which suffered its second road loss of the postseason.
O’Neal ended with only eight points and six rebounds and Stephen Jackson was held to eight points for Indiana, which shot 36 percent from the field.
A slow first half doomed the Pistons. Detroit had only 11 first-quarter points and added only 17 more in the second. Indiana, meanwhile, overcame a 17-point first with a 25-point second to distance itself from the Pistons.
"I thought early that the effort was there, but we were playing so hard that we weren’t together," said Billups. "Everyone was making the effort on their own and not playing as a team, that’s not like us. We got ourselves together and gave ourselves a chance to win at the end."
Indiana scored seven of the last nine points of the opening stanza to go into the second ahead 17-11.
Then, after the Pistons drew within 17-13 early in the second, the Pacers scored eight straight points to take their first double-digit lead of the game, 25-13. Anthony Johnson had half of Indiana’s points during the surge, which was capped by a Foster layup with 7:41 remaining.
Later, with 2:43 left in the half, a Tinsley three-pointer extended the Pacers’ lead to 38-23. Then, Dale Davis’ jumper with 1:05 left gave Indiana its largest lead of the game at 18 points, 42-24, and the club cruised into the break with a 42-28 cushion.
In the third, Indiana kept Detroit at bay. The Pacers led by as many as 17 points, 52-35 at the 7:22 mark, and went into the fourth with a 58-45 lead.
Detroit Pistons 
Indiana Pacers 
