Pistons advance to NBA semi-finals by beating Magic

Richard Hamilton scored 31 points and the Detroit Pistons have advanced to the National Basketball Association semi-finals for the sixth year in a row by defeating Orlando 91-86.

The Pistons captured the best-of-seven Eastern Conference second-round series four games to one on Tuesday and will next play either the Boston Celtics or Cleveland Cavaliers for a berth in next month's NBA Finals.

The Celtics, the NBA regular-season champions, lead Cleveland 2-1 in their series and are the only NBA team that would have a playoff home-court edge on the Pistons, who were ousted by the Cavaliers last year in the semi-finals.

Antonio McDyess scored 17 points, 11 of them in the fourth quarter, and grabbed 11 rebounds to spark the Pistons, who also had 15 points from Rodney Stuckey and 14 points from Rasheed Wallace.

"We just tried to play together and talk on defnese," McDyess said. "Rip (Hamilton) got us going on offense. We just tried to play off him."

Detroit improved to 15-3 in potential series-clinching games and became the first team to reach six conference finals in a row since the Los Angeles Lakers did it in the West from 1984 through 1989.

During the latest run of trips to the NBA's final four, the Pistons won a title in 2004 and lost the 2005 final to San Antonio in seven games but lost in the East final in 2003 and the past two years.

Detroit scored 13 points in a row to seize a 78-70 edge and McDyess hit three free throws in a row to give the Pistons an 82-72 lead, their largest of the game.

Hedo Turkoglu, who led Orlando with 18 points, hit a jumper and assisted on a Rashard Lewis 3-pointer to cut Detroit's lead in half with 3:08 remaining and the margin was the same, 89-85, after Tayshaun Prince hit a free throw with 79 seconds remaining.

Turkoglu answered with back-to-back baskets to pull Orlando within a point but the Turkish standout knocked a rebound out of bounds with 20.9 seconds remaining and Orlando began fouling to stop the clock.

Hamilton, who was perfect on 16 free throws, hit six in the final 19.6 seconds to keep the Magic at bay while Prince blocked a Turkoglu dunk attempt and Orlando lost the ball out of bounds on the next possession, the 21st and last Magic turnover of the game.

The Pistons played without point guard Chauncey Billups, who is suffering from a strained right hamstring suffered in a game three road loss last week. Billups also missed Detroit's 90-89 victory at Orlando in game four Saturday.

"It will mean a lot to get some rest, especially to have Chauncey back in the lineup in the next round," McDyess said.