San Antonio – San Antonio’s police department expected 50,000 fans to celebrate downtown well into Wednesday morning if the San Antonio Spurs won the NBA title Tuesday night. NBA officials polished the championship and most valuable player trophies. And in the Detroit Pistons’ locker room, it was written that San Antonio had scheduled a championship parade for Thursday.
The Pistons canceled all those plans with a clutch 95-86 victory over the Spurs in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night at the SBC Center, the site of Thursday’s deciding Game 7.
“It means everything,” said Pistons guard Chauncey Billups, who had 21 points, six rebounds and six assists. “We go back to the hotel instead of the airplane.”
The Pistons snapped a 10-game losing streak, including the postseason, in San Antonio and earned their first win here since 1997.
The Pistons are 0-2 in franchise history in Game 7s in the Finals. The Spurs will be playing in their first Game 7 in three Finals appearances.
“It’s just one game,” said Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, who had 21 points and 10 rebounds. “History doesn’t matter. Home-court advantage doesn’t matter any more. It depends a lot on the character of the players, how you respond under pressure.”
No team has responded from being down 3-2 on the road to win the NBA title in nine tries. No Finals team has won Games 6 and 7 on the road.
But after being in a must-win situation, the Pistons are confident they can change history.
“Tonight we showed guts,” Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace said. “We want to show the same guts Thursday.”
Wallace scored seven of his 16 points on 3-of-4 shooting in the fourth quarter. He was trying to erase the memory of a defensive miscue in Game 5, which led to a wide-open 3-pointer by Robert Horry that sealed a victory for San Antonio.
“Even though I did a bonehead play the other night, I had to put it behind me,” Wallace said. “It was over with. Just had to come out and had to play tonight.”
As in Game 5, the first half was tightly contested as the Spurs led 47-46. Neither team led by more than three points in the first 10:55 of the third quarter. Antonio McDyess’ layup with 1:05 left in the third gave Detroit a 71-67 lead.
There were 23 lead changes through three quarters.
Tony Parker’s 3-pointer at the 6:09 mark of the fourth quarter kept San Antonio within four. Lindsey Hunter responded with a layup with 5:42 left to put Detroit up 82-77.
Ginobili’s 3-pointer with 4:48 left trimmed San Antonio’s deficit to 82-81 with 4:48 left. But a 3-pointer by Wallace gave Detroit a five-point lead with 3:31 remaining. Consecutive baskets from Tim Duncan sliced Detroit’s lead to one with 2:22 left.
With two minutes left, Tayshaun Prince’s off-balance layup gave Detroit an 89-86 lead. After a turnover by Ginobili, Wallace’s putback with 1:25 remaining put the Pistons up 91-86. With 25.1 seconds left, Billups made two free throws to put Detroit up 93-86 and seal the victory.
“We put ourselves in that (must-win) position, so we’ve got no alternative but to show up and compete,” Detroit coach Larry Brown said.
Thursday night, the 2005 NBA champion will be crowned. And fans will be preparing to party or bracing for disappointment in San Antonio and Detroit.
“We all understand what we have to do,” said Duncan, who had 21 points and 15 rebounds.
Said Billups: “The NBA, this is what it’s all about. You’re in the Finals. It’s Game 7. Two of the best teams in the league. Don’t get no better than this.”
Staff writer Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.
