NBA PLAYOFFS Pistons turn back Pacers' rally for 85-78 win and 2-1 series lead

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- The Indiana Pacers are in trouble. They can't seem to avoid rims when they shoot.
They've failed to slow down Detroit's Richard Hamilton, and have allowed his teammates to flourish just enough offensively.
Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace each scored 20 points, Ben Wallace had 17 points and Chauncey Billups added 14, to lead the Pistons to an 85-78 win Wednesday night over Indiana. Detroit holds a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
"They're a team that can come at you with an usual balance," Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. "They drive it well. They can post. They drive and kick well. They're good finishers in transition."
Game 4 Friday
Game 4 in the best-of-seven series is Friday night at The Palace.
"This series is far from over," said Jermaine O'Neal, who had 24 points and nine rebounds. "I know it's going to come around for us. We have too many shooters not to make shots."
Even when the Pistons were awful in Game 3 -- with nine points and 10 turnovers in the second quarter -- they didn't let Indiana pull ahead.
"As detrimental as it was for us, I thought it was beautiful that we were able to still keep that lead," Billups said.
The game was only beautiful for the Pistons, and their fans.
The all-time playoff-record low of 130 combined points looked like it would be threatened when Detroit led 56-45 after three quarters. But the teams made 28-of-36 free throws in the fourth period.
Comeback
An almost unwatchable game suddenly turned interesting when Austin Croshere drove past Rasheed Wallace for a dunk to cap a 10-0 run and cut Detroit's lead to 76-75 with 1:50 remaining.
On the next possession, Rasheed Wallace got the ball in the low post isolated against Croshere and made a turnaround 6-footer. He was fouled and made the free throw to match his playoff high with the Pistons, and give them the cushion they needed.
The Pacers scored more points in the fourth quarter (33) than they had in the entire first half (30).
"We made it close, we just couldn't get over the hump," said Indiana's Al Harrington, who scored 13 points.
Wallace, who made Detroit a title contender when he was acquired three months ago, shrugged off the victory.
The objective
"We have a bigger goal," he said. "That's to win the NBA championship."
The top-seeded team in the NBA playoffs didn't get much out of anybody besides O'Neal.
The All-Star forward was 7-of-17 from the field and 10-of-11 at the line. His teammates combined to make just 18-of-55 shots.
"You're not going to win when you're shooting that badly," said Indiana's Ron Artest, who scored 13 on 4-of-13 shooting, dropping to 15-of-57 for the series.
The Pacers have made just 31.9 percent of their shots over three games. They've watched Hamilton average 22 points and three other Pistons -- Billups and the Wallaces -- score at least 11 per game.