NBA PLAYOFFS Pistons dethrone Nets with 90-69 rout in final

Detroit held New Jersey's Jason Kidd scoreless.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- Ben Wallace backpedaled while keeping his right wrist cocked after swishing a 19-foot jumper that put the Detroit Pistons ahead by 25.
A "Big Ben" gong sound echoed throughout the arena as the frustrated New Jersey Nets called timeout, their two-year reign as the best team in the Eastern Conference about to come to an end.
Wallace's jumper was just one of many things for the Pistons that worked to perfection in a Game 7 rout. Chauncey Billups scored 22 points, Richard Hamilton had 21 and the defensive-minded Wallace added 18 to lead Detroit past the Nets 90-69 Thursday night in their Eastern Conference semifinal.
"I thought New Jersey was going to come out with a lot more energy and play a lot harder," Wallace said.
"If you would've told me that we were going blow this team out, coming into a Game 7, I would've told you you're crazy."
What if someone had told him Jason Kidd would be held scoreless?
Well, that improbability happened, too, as part of Detroit's dominance of the deciding game.
Lead for keeps
Detroit took the lead for good in the middle of the first quarter and turned it into a blowout early in the third by holding the Nets to just two points in the first six-plus minutes to go ahead by 24.
Wallace's jumper moments later gave Detroit its largest lead of the game.
The Pistons advanced to the conference finals for the second straight year by knocking off the team that swept them last season.
The victory sets up an intriguing matchup with the Pacers, who are coached by Rick Carlisle -- fired by the Pistons last summer after winning 100 regular season games, two division titles and three playoff series in two seasons.
"It's amazing that we'll be facing him, isn't it?" Hamilton asked. "The buildup is going to be unbelievable. We know we'll have to be aggressive because we know that [Carlisle] likes to grind."
Game 1 is Saturday night at Indianapolis.
Larry Brown was hired to replace Carlisle, and the Hall of Fame coach improved to 5-3 in Game 7s -- including an 4-0 mark in such games at home.
Leading the Nets
New Jersey's Richard Jefferson and Kenyon Martin had solid games with 17 points each, but Kidd had a brutal performance.
He missed all eight of his shots, and had seven assists and five rebounds. His previous low in the playoffs in his three seasons with the Nets was a five-point performance in Game 3 against Detroit.
"All the shots looked good, felt good, they just didn't go in," Kidd said. "It's just part of the game.
"There's no excuses. Detroit was the better team."
Rasheed Wallace, who made Detroit a championship contender when he was acquired in February, had 12 points and seven rebounds. New Jersey's Kerry Kittles scored 18, and Rodney Rogers added 13.