Miami, FL (Basketball News) - Rasheed Wallace scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Detroit to a 90-81 win over Miami in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Chauncey Billups netted 18 points and Richard Hamilton contributed 16 for the defending world champion Pistons, who are appearing in the conference finals for the third consecutive season.
"Like I said before Game 1, we’re still underdogs," Wallace said. The majority of you guys have either Miami or San Antonio winning it all, but we still just go out there and play. We’re just trying to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke."
Detroit, which has won four straight series openers, will try and take the first two games of this best-of-seven set when the teams square off again on Wednesday night in Miami.
Shaquille O’Neal returned to the lineup after having missed the team’s past two playoff games with a bruised right thigh and scored 20 points and grabbed five boards in 33 minutes for the Heat.
The 33-year-old O’Neal, who recently had blood drained from the thigh, has been bothered by the injury for the past five weeks and played his first game since Game 2 against Washington on May 10, a span of 13 days.
"He (O’Neal) went out there and did it for the team tonight," said Miami head coach Stan Van Gundy. "I mean, he’s given us everything he has. Our other guys saw that. He was very effective. I think he will continue to be effective in the series and we’ve just got to get some better performances out of other people."
The All-Star center practiced on Saturday for the first time since the injury flared up against the Wizards, but then sat out Sunday’s practice. O’Neal then participated in Monday morning’s shootaround, but was still listed as a game- time decision and was not announced into the starting lineup until two minutes prior to the game. During the contest, O’Neal had the thigh heavily protected with pads to help ease the pain.
Eddie Jones had a game-high 22 points and also hauled in eight boards while Dwyane Wade added 16 points for top-seeded Miami, which suffered its first loss in nine playoff games this year. Wade, though, struggled with his shot as he was just 7-of-25 from the field.
"I’m very confident in my ability," said Wade. "I shot terrible tonight, but I had some good looks. It wasn’t like all my shots they contested and I just didn’t have any good looks. I have to take that positive mind state into tomorrow, look at the film tomorrow, see what I have to do different and see what I have to do to have my team win and I will do it."
The Heat, who are playing in the East finals for only the second time in franchise history and the first since 1997, had an 11-game winning streak dating back to the regular season snapped. It was the team’s first setback since losing to Boston on April 15.
Miami played for the first time since sweeping Washington on May 14, while the Pistons had just wrapped up their second-round set versus Indiana this past Thursday, but the short rest apparently did not bother Detroit.
"I’m one that always believes that unless people are banged up, I don’t like a lot of rest," said Billups. "I just like to get it on; get to the next series and start playing and start to develop a little momentum because time off kind of kills that. I’m glad we played a tough series and we were tough in this last series with Indiana. I think that plays into our favor."
The Heat trailed by seven after 36 minutes, but O’Neal’s bucket in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter brought Miami within five points.
The margin, though, quickly grew to nine points, but the Heat again battled back and eventually tied the game as they used a 9-0 burst, keyed by Damon Jones’ long three-pointer. Udonis Haslem’s baseline jumper with 5:11 to play capped the run and made it 80-80.
However, the Pistons took control from there as they closed out the game with a 10-1 surge to take the opening game of the series.
Billups had eight of the decisive 10 points and Hamilton also added a field goal as Detroit showed why it is one of the league’s best defensive teams by holding the Heat scoreless over the final 4:36.
"Well, I thought defensively we guarded about as well as we could the whole game," said Detroit head coach Larry Brown. "When they made the run, we kind of got a little bit quick and maybe went a little bit one-on-one and got them some easy baskets. We knew they were going to come back, and when they did, we just limited them to one shot, got some turnovers, got some blocks and got a charge. We did all the things I think you would hope to do down the stretch."
O’Neal ended 9-of-14 from the field.
The first quarter was tightly contested with neither team leading by more than four points and Miami held a 25-24 edge after one.
In the opening 12 minutes, O’Neal played eight minutes and went 4-of-5 from the floor and scored eight points.
Both clubs traded baskets throughout the majority of the second period, but the Pistons charged in front and finally seized a 42-37 lead on Billups’ three-pointer with 2:55 left in the quarter. Miami then reeled off six straight points in the closing seconds to claim a one-point edge, but in a half that featured 13 lead changes, Detroit eventually went into the locker room with a 44-43 advantage.
Wallace scored 11 points for the Pistons, who made 18-of-40 attempts from the field and 5-of-7 three-point tries in the opening 24 minutes. Eddie Jones scored 14 and O’Neal added 13 points in 16 minutes for the Heat, who made 46 percent of their shots in the first half.
"I pretty much just took the shots they gave me," said Wallace.
Detroit came out strong to start the third as it began the period on an 8-0 surge to open up a 52-43 lead. Ben Wallace scored four points and Rasheed Wallace capped the 10-0 flurry that bridged the second and third quarters with a jumper with 9:37 remaining in the stanza.
A leaning jumper by Hamilton just under five minutes later extended the edge to 64-50 and marked Miami’s largest deficit of the postseason. The Heat closed within 69-61 on O’Neal’s turnaround late in the period and Wade’s reverse layup in the final seconds brought Miami within 74-67 after three periods.
Detroit Pistons 
Miami Heat 
