Pistons pound 76ers to reach the brink of NBA advancing

Chauncey Billups scored 21 points and Richard Hamilton added 20 Tuesday to lead the Detroit Pistons past Philadelphia 98-81 in the National Basketball Association playoffs.

Billups also contributed 12 assists for the second-seeded Pistons, who took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

The Pistons, who trailed 2-1 in the series, can advance to a secound-round matchup against Orlando with a victory Thursday in Philadelphia. The 76ers must win at home to force a seventh game back here on Saturday.

"You definitely want a repeat performance," Billups said. "Elimination games are always the hardest to win because that other team who is facing elimination is going to be fighting, scratching and clawing.

"It's going to be a good challenge for us."

Rasheed Wallace had 19 points and six blocks for the Pistons while Tayshaun Prince added 17 points and Jason Maxiell grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

"We did what we were supposed to do. We won at home," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "When we got the ball to our people, we shot the ball well and played good offensive basketball. We got back to playing a little bit grittier defensively and offensively we started moving the ball."

Andre Iguodala scored 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting for the 76ers while Louis Williams came off the bench to score 16 points for seventh seed Philadelphia.

"The series is not over until someone gets four wins," 76ers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "We've got to play a little better, obviously. We have to play a little better on the defensive end - can't turn the ball over as much."

The Pistons hit 43-of-74 shots from the field and forced 18 turnovers. Billups played tough defense on 76ers guard Andre Miller in addition to his offensive contributions.

"(Billups) had a little but more pop in his step and a little more lift on his shot as well as rotation on the ball," Saunders said. "He felt better about himself shooting the ball. He did a nice job of running the offense."

Detroit took the lead for good when Tayshaun Prince's layup sparked an impressive 18-2 run for a 28-12 lead with just 9:04 elapsed.

"We wanted to be the team that goes out and try to make a run early and I thought we did a great job of that," Hamilton said.

"It was a great game for us," Billups said. "We just took care of business from the jump ball."

The 76ers never recovered from that opening burst.

"By the time we made any adjustments, it was over," Miller said.