Pistons lead by two at halftime of Game 4

Rasheed Wallace tallied nine points and eight rebounds for the Pistons, who are trying to take a convincing 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven set. No team has ever come back to win the NBA Finals after being down 3-1 in the series.

The Pistons got to the foul line 23 times, but shot less then 35 percent from the field in the opening 24 minutes.

Shaquille O’Neal recorded 17 points and 12 boards for the Lakers, who have won 13 straight Game 4s in the postseason. The last time LA lost a Game 4 was to the Suns on May 14, 2000 at Phoenix.

The entire first half was very tight, but the Pistons went into the intermission on an 8-3 spurt to take 41-39 lead.

No team led by more than three in the first quarter and LA took a slim 22-21 edge heading into the second. Kobe Bryant tallied the first Laker bucket, but was blanked the rest of the quarter.

O’Neal led all first-quarter scorers with 10 points, while the Lakers got a much-need six points from Gary Payton in the opening 12 minutes. Payton, who joined the Lakers in the offseason for a chance to win his first NBA title, was held scoreless in the first quarter of the previous three games in the series.