NBA Game Summary - Philadelphia at Detroit

Auburn Hills, MI (Basketball News) - Richard Hamilton scored 23 points, Chauncey Billups had 20, and the Detroit Pistons cruised to a 99-84 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

Rasheed Wallace added 15 points and Antonio McDyess scored 12 off the bench for the Pistons, who will take a 2-0 series lead to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Friday.

"I don’t think the playoffs start until somebody loses at home," said Pistons head coach Larry Brown. "We took care of our home court. I don’t worry about Philadelphia (because) I have no control over them."

The Pistons are 13-0 all-time in playoff series when they win the first two games. The Sixers have never come back from a 2-0 deficit.

Allen Iverson scored 19 points with 10 assists to lead Philadelphia, but he shot just 7-of-24 from the field.

"I missed a hundred layups tonight and I just couldn’t get it going," Iverson said. "My whole thing, when I’m playing real bad, I just understand that I might probably get another opportunity to erase this whole game with a big play or something. I couldn’t find it tonight, but I’m satisfied with keeping on fighting and with my efforts."

Chris Webber added 15 points in the loss and Samuel Dalembert scored 14 with 11 rebounds.

"You can go home and use the energy of your home court to play better basketball, get a shot in the arm," Philadelphia coach Jim O’Brien said. "They held their advantage at home and it’s our job to try to get Game 3."

The Sixers shot 32-of-87 (37 percent) as a team, and only 21-of-65 after the first quarter. Forward Kyle Korver, who averaged 11.5 points in the regular season, made just two of his nine shots for eight points. He is 3-for-13 over the first two games of this series.

Detroit led by six at halftime, but didn’t start taking control of the game until the third quarter.

Wallace scored 11 of his 15 points in the period — this after scoring 16 in the third quarter of Detroit’s 106-85 win in Game 1.

The fiery forward’s play helped the Pistons extended their lead to 12 points. His tip-in came at the end of a 7-2 run that gave Detroit a 69-57 advantage heading into the final period.

The Pistons went ahead by as many as 22 points before the end of the game, the last time coming when Hamilton’s layup made it 93-71 with 3:18 remaining.

Hamilton ended 9-of-13 from the floor. He scored nine of his 23 points in the first quarter — but Philadelphia also got off to a good start.

The Sixers made 11 of their 22 shots in the opening period for a 23-20 lead at the horn, getting six points apiece from Iverson, Webber and Dalembert.

Detroit then used an 11-1 run to take control of the second quarter, overcoming a four-point deficit and turning it into a six-point lead when McDyess’ baseline jumper made it 40-34 with 3:02 left.

McDyess — also a factor off the bench in Game 1 — scored all of his eight first-half points in the second quarter, and the Pistons maintained their six- point advantage to lead 42-36 at the break.

"We have an advantage when we go inside to our big guys, particularly with him (McDyess)," Brown said.

Both teams got 22 points from their benches in the game, this after the Detroit reserves posted a 19-6 advantage in Game 1.

Wallace and McDyess accounted for six of Detroit’s 10 blocked shots.