San Antonio – Although it’s hard to tell, the San Antonio Spurs swear that dominating the defending NBA champions has been a lot harder than it has looked.
The Spurs routed the Detroit Pistons 97-76 on Sunday night in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. San Antonio, which never trailed, has a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series and has won the first two games by an average of 18 points. The next two games will be played in Auburn Hills, Mich., with Game 5 also scheduled for the Pistons’ court if necessary.
“We had a great game,” said San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili, whose game-high 27 points included four 3-pointers. “But I don’t think it’s been easy. We are working really hard and it’s been tough.”
The Spurs had five players score at least 12 points. Detroit didn’t have one starter score 15. San Antonio made 11-of-24 attempts from 3-point range, while Detroit didn’t sink one for the first time in the postseason.
Asked if the series has been easier for San Antonio than expected, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said: “No, not at all. Nothing’s easy. I think they had a poor shooting night tonight.”
Detroit has responded with its back against the wall in previous playoff games this season. Indiana was up 2-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinals when Detroit responded with three straight wins to claim the series. Miami was up 3-2 in the Eastern Conference finals when Detroit responded to win the series.
But against the Spurs, the Pistons have their toughest challenge of all. The Spurs are 6-2 on the road this postseason and, if necessary, the final two games of this series would be played in San Antonio.
“They played good, you can’t take anything away from them,” said Pistons guard Chauncey Billups, a Denver native. “But we’ll be happy to get back to Detroit.”
The Spurs jumped to an 8-0 lead Sunday, helped by 3-pointers by Ginobili and Bruce Bowen. A dunk by Rasheed Wallace brought Detroit within 11-6 of the Spurs with 6:58 left in the first quarter. Detroit, however, got no closer than five points the rest of the game and finished the first quarter down 30-19.
The Spurs shot 60 percent in the first quarter and made three 3-pointers. The Pistons missed 14-of-22 shots in the first quarter and didn’t attempt a 3-pointer.
“Maybe we weren’t ready to play,” said Detroit reserve forward Antonio McDyess, who scored a team-high 15 points. “They went up quick before we knew it. We tried to fight back into it, but we couldn’t. I wish I knew why. I can’t tell you.”
The Pistons were outscored 28-23 in the second quarter and went into halftime down 58-42. The Spurs shot 58.8 percent in the first half, with Ginobili (12 points), Tim Duncan (14) and Tony Parker (10) already having reached double figures.
The Pistons went into the fourth quarter trailing 79-63. Richard Hamilton’s layup cut Detroit’s deficit to 81-73 with 7:14 left. But one of Bowen’s four 3-pointers, with 4:59 left, gave the Spurs an 89-73 lead.
“When it got down to eight, it could easily go from eight to two,” Popovich said. “It went back to 15 because we made a shot or two. It’s a lot closer than the score looks.”
But down 2-0, the NBA Finals don’t seem close to the Pistons right now.
“We’ve never been down (2-0) before,” Pistons guard Lindsey Hunter said. “This is new territory for us.”
Said Billups: “We can’t take it one game at a time. We’ve got to play quarters now, and we’ve got to be very focused on short spans, quarters. If we can do that, we can get this series to swing back in our direction. If we can’t, we’re going to be in trouble.”
Staff writer Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.
