Miami – The Detroit Pistons witnessed the heroics of Superman and Flash on Saturday night.
In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, Miami Heat stars Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade played like superheroes, combining for 62 points in Miami’s 98-83 win at American Airlines Arena. The Heat has a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“They had an unbelievable game tonight,” said Pistons guard Chauncey Billups, who led his team with 31 points. “Those are their two horses. That’s who they’re going to depend on to win the games, and today they came out and they were dominant. … We have to take a look at probably what they’re doing because if they play that way the rest of the series, there’s going to be some long nights for us.”
In two seasons together, Wade acknowledged this was probably their best combined playoff performance.
“Things were working for us,” Wade said.
Wade scored a game-high 35 points and made 13-of-17 shots from the field. He also made 9-of-11 free throws, grabbed eight rebounds and added four assists. O’Neal scored 27 points and made 11-of-15 shots from the field. He also grabbed a game- high 12 rebounds and contributed two steals.
“(Wade’s) a great player, great surface player,” O’Neal said. “We have that connection.”
The Pistons, who shot 42.2 percent from the field, had only 11 assists and gave up 14 turnovers. Miami made up for just 11 assists by shooting 58.2 percent.
Outside of Billups and Richard Hamilton (20 points), the rest of the Pistons combined for 32 points and 10-of-32 shooting.
“We’ve got 11 assists, 14 turnovers,” Billups said. “We shouldn’t even have a chance to win.”
The Heat took a 49-38 halftime lead. O’Neal had 15 points and eight rebounds at halftime, while Wade had 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Wade scored 10 in the third quarter and O’Neal added eight for a 74-62 Heat lead by the start of the fourth.
Billups got the Pistons back in the game with back-to-back 3-pointers, cutting their deficit to 74-73 with 6:08 remaining. But Detroit would get no closer as Miami took control down the stretch and took one step closer to reaching the NBA Finals.
How important is Game 4 on Monday night?
A win for Miami on Monday, and the Pistons must win three straight to advance. The Pistons haven’t won three consecutive games in a series since last year’s conference semifinals against Indiana. Since then they have played 29 postseason games, including Game 3 on Saturday, without winning three in a row in any series.
“Monday is going to be huge,” Heat forward Antoine Walker said. “We have to take it as a Game 7 type of game. We’ve got a golden opportunity to go up 3-1 and really put them behind the eight ball.”
Said Billups: “It’s a huge game. It’s the biggest game of the series, pretty much, Monday’s game. I know they know that, and we know that. We have to come in and play with a sense of urgency early in the game, and hopefully it carries through the game. We’re down 2-1 right now, and we have to go home tied up.”
Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.
