Auburn Hills, Mich. – Earning a trip to San Antonio has never been this appealing to the Detroit Pistons.
The defending champion Pistons were in jeopardy of losing their crown during a three-game stretch at home after dropping the first two games of the NBA Finals on the road.
Instead, the Pistons regrouped to even the best-of-seven title series with the San Antonio Spurs with a dominating 102-71 victory in Game 4 on Thursday night at the Palace.
Game 5 is Sunday on the Pistons’ court, and the series could be decided Tuesday in San Antonio.
“It definitely feels good to be tied up after coming home 0-2,” said Pistons guard Chauncey Billups, a Denver native who had 17 points, seven assists and five rebounds, and now is the leading scorer in the Finals with an 18.8 average. “I don’t think we gave ourselves the best chance in San Antonio in the way that we started out and the way that we played through those games. Coming home with our fans, we know there’s going to be so much energy in our building, we’re going to play and get some momentum.”
The Pistons are in position to become the third team in NBA history to recover from a 2-0 deficit to win the Finals. The road team has yet to lose in this series, and the average margin of victory has been 21.
The Pistons had seven players score 12 or more points. Detroit set a Finals-record low with four turnovers and scored 25 points off 18 turnovers by San Antonio.
After averaging 26.5 points the first two games, Spurs guard Manu Ginobili was held to 12 points in Game 4 after scoring just seven in Game 3.
“We were phenomenal tonight,” Detroit coach Larry Brown said. “Took 90 shots to their 70. Everybody shared the ball. We didn’t turn it over, so (the Spurs) had very few opportunities in transition. They shoot 37 percent, so our defense is set. We just did a lot of really necessary things to give ourselves a chance to beat them.”
Said Spurs guard Tony Parker: “They really pressured us and didn’t let us do anything on offense. We need to find a solution.”
Detroit jumped out to an 18-10 lead on a jumper from Billups. Rasheed Wallace’s 3-pointer with one second left in the first quarter gave Detroit a 23-17 lead.
The Pistons opened the second quarter with an 11-0 run to take a 34-17 lead, with nine of those points being scored by backups Lindsey Hunter (17 points in the game) and Antonio McDyess (13). San Antonio had three turnovers during that run and missed four shots.
The Spurs responded with a 12-2 run, but Detroit recovered to lead 51-36 at halftime.
“We did a great job of pressuring up, getting them out of the things they like to run, not letting Tim (Duncan) get the ball in his sweet spots,” Hunter said. “When we do that, we create running opportunities for our team, and we did a great job of that tonight.”
Hunter scored nine points in the third quarter to spark the Pistons again. When he came out of the game with 2:22 left in the third and Detroit up 70-53 just 13 seconds after hitting a jumper, he received a standing ovation.
The fourth quarter was a Pistons party as Detroit’s lead never dropped below 21 points. Seldom-used forwards Darko Milicic and Darvin Ham got in the game, and the 6-foot-2 Hunter threw down a dunk.
“You don’t think the games are going to go the way they did,” Billups said. “I didn’t think the first two games were going to go like that. It’s a great series. This is what NBA basketball is all about, the Finals are all about. It’s tied up 2-2. It’s a three-game series now. First one to two, so it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich: “I just think of it as two bad performances, and if it doesn’t get better, we’ll be in trouble.”
Staff writer Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.
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NBA FINALS
Series tied 2-2
Game 1: Spurs 84, Pistons 69
Game 2: Spurs 97, Pistons 76
Game 3: Pistons 96, Spurs 79
Game 4: Pistons 102, Spurs 71
Game 5: Sunday, at Detroit, 7 p.m.
Game 6: Tuesday, at San Antonio, 7 p.m.
Game 7: *Thursday at San Antonio, 7 p.m.
Games on KMGH-7
* if necessary
