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Detroit at Miami 8:00 pm EDT Eastern Conference Finals Series tied, 1-1
MIAMI (Ticker) -- The second-seeded Miami Heat host the top-seeded Detroit Pistons as the Eastern Conference finals shift from Motown to South Beach in Game Three on Saturday.
The Pistons bounced back with a 92-88 victory over the Heat in Game Two on Thursday to even the series at a game apiece. Tayshaun Prince scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Richard Hamilton added 22 points and fellow All-Star Chauncey Billups collected 18 and eight assists for Detroit.
Four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Ben Wallace, who pulled down 12 rebounds, provided the energy as Detroit got off to a fast start and played from in front for the majority of the contest. The Pistons took a 25-12 lead into the second quarter and never looked back.
The biggest adjustment for Detroit from the opener was locking down Miami's supporting cast. Even though Dwyane Wade scored 32 points and fellow All-Star Shaquille O'Neal added 21, the only role player to reach double figures for the Heat was Antoine Walker, who finished with 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting.
In Game One, Walker, Gary Payton, James Posey and Jason Williams combined for 46 points. On Thursday they tallied only 31 points on 9-of-30 shooting.
"It was kind of our main thing," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said. "We didn't want them to get off to a great start and get easy buckets. They're using a lot of those guys because they're running a lot of things through Shaq and through Dwyane. So when you run your offense through two guys predominantly and the other players aren't involved as much, what you want to try to do is you don't want them to have high, efficient scoring opportunities when they do get the ball."
Miami expects to bounce back in front of its fans and receive a better effort from the role players, especially power forward Udonis Haslem, who is clearing struggling, and Riley is aware of it.
"He's 1-for-12, and Ud has always been someone that's come back and bounced back," Riley said. He's got zero offensive rebounds, so he needs to step up big-time in the effort area. He's got to get his head under the rim and play the kind of game that we know he's capable of playing."
Saunders believes the formula for success in Game Three is putting the ball in the basket.
"Well, the biggest thing is the teams that have gotten off to a great start have made shots," Saunders said. "Sometimes you can talk about a lot of different, how to defend pick-and-rolls, how to do a lot of different things, but it really boils down to guys making shots."
Game Four is here on Monday.
MIAMI (Ticker) -- The second-seeded Miami Heat host the top-seeded Detroit Pistons as the Eastern Conference finals shift from Motown to South Beach in Game Three on Saturday.
The Pistons bounced back with a 92-88 victory over the Heat in Game Two on Thursday to even the series at a game apiece. Tayshaun Prince scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Richard Hamilton added 22 points and fellow All-Star Chauncey Billups collected 18 and eight assists for Detroit.
Four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Ben Wallace, who pulled down 12 rebounds, provided the energy as Detroit got off to a fast start and played from in front for the majority of the contest. The Pistons took a 25-12 lead into the second quarter and never looked back.
The biggest adjustment for Detroit from the opener was locking down Miami's supporting cast. Even though Dwyane Wade scored 32 points and fellow All-Star Shaquille O'Neal added 21, the only role player to reach double figures for the Heat was Antoine Walker, who finished with 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting.
In Game One, Walker, Gary Payton, James Posey and Jason Williams combined for 46 points. On Thursday they tallied only 31 points on 9-of-30 shooting.
"It was kind of our main thing," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said. "We didn't want them to get off to a great start and get easy buckets. They're using a lot of those guys because they're running a lot of things through Shaq and through Dwyane. So when you run your offense through two guys predominantly and the other players aren't involved as much, what you want to try to do is you don't want them to have high, efficient scoring opportunities when they do get the ball."
Miami expects to bounce back in front of its fans and receive a better effort from the role players, especially power forward Udonis Haslem, who is clearing struggling, and Riley is aware of it.
"He's 1-for-12, and Ud has always been someone that's come back and bounced back," Riley said. He's got zero offensive rebounds, so he needs to step up big-time in the effort area. He's got to get his head under the rim and play the kind of game that we know he's capable of playing."
Saunders believes the formula for success in Game Three is putting the ball in the basket.
"Well, the biggest thing is the teams that have gotten off to a great start have made shots," Saunders said. "Sometimes you can talk about a lot of different, how to defend pick-and-rolls, how to do a lot of different things, but it really boils down to guys making shots."
Game Four is here on Monday.
