O'Neal, Artest hoping to score more in Game 3 against Pistons

The two aces haven't been shooting well in the Eastern Conference finals.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- Jermaine O'Neal still can't believe he was held scoreless after halftime of Game 2 against the Detroit Pistons.
"I was shut out. That should never happen," Indiana's star forward said. "I should never go 0-for-8 in a second half."
But he did, and it was a reason Detroit beat the Pacers 72-67 Monday night to even the Eastern Conference finals.
Game 3 in the best-of-seven series is tonight in suburban Detroit.
O'Neal said Indiana coach Rick Carlisle was more intense than usual at practice Tuesday, and tried to motivate more than he has all season.
"We understand the situation," O'Neal said.
Indiana's other All-Star has put together two games he'd like to forget.
Ron Artest missed 16 of 21 shots in Game 2, and has missed 33 of 44 in the series.
"I've played two games in a row that were horrible games," Artest acknowledged.
Has struggled
The 6-foot-7, 247-pound Artest has struggled to create open shots against Tayshaun Prince, whose lanky 6-9, 215-pound frame covers a lot of ground.
"I think the refs are protecting the smaller Tayshaun," Artest said.
Prince said the key to slowing down Artest, who is averaging 19.9 points in the playoffs, is to push him away from the basket before he gets the ball.
"If you let him catch it in the post, he's dangerous," Prince said.
While Prince has been the primary defender frustrating Artest, the Pistons have thrown their two Wallaces (Ben and Rasheed) at O'Neal.
Rasheed Wallace was in Portland for seven full seasons -- four with O'Neal -- before being dealt to Atlanta and Detroit three months ago. Wallace is enjoying facing his friend, and hanging out with him after games.
"On the court, we're throwing elbows and everything else," he said. "Off the court, we're cool. The other night, when they won Game 1, I ended up seeing him later on for a couple cocktails."
O'Neal has apparently grown tired talking about the topic.
"This is my last time talking about Rasheed," O'Neal said. "I don't want our friendship to overshadow the match-up."
Defensive battle
Just as many expected, defense has dominated the match-up of the East's top two teams from the regular season.
The 139 points they combined to score Monday was the third-lowest total in an NBA playoff game since 1954-55. If Detroit coach Larry Brown was not involved with the series, would he have thought Game 2 was ugly, like many did?
"I'd think the effort was unbelievable on both teams' part. I'd think the defense was great," he said. "But there were a lot of bad basketball decisions. When you're in a high-pressure situation against good defense, guys don't always make the right decisions."
The Pistons blocked 19 shots, one shy of the NBA postseason record, including Prince's lead-protecting swat on Reggie Miller's layup attempt.
"The whole world thought he was going to lay it up," O'Neal said. "Tay made a great play. That's the kind of play that wins championships."
The anticipated blocks
Billups believes the blocks might start to play tricks on the Pacers' minds, perhaps like a wide receiver who thinks a safety is coming to make a big hit in a football game.
"That's a great analogy," Billups said. "It gets mental. I know if I was on the other side, and somebody had 19 blocks against us, every time I would go to the basket, I would be looking for where they were."
Prince said just because the Pistons are returning home, they can't get cocky. Milwaukee and New Jersey won games at The Palace in the first two rounds.
"We can't let that happen again," he said.
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