Turning up the Heat
MIAMI — Shaquille O'Neal batted Richard Hamilton's pass away at the foul line, corralled the deflection near midcourt, dribbled twice and swooped in for a layup.
"I've been holding back," he deadpanned afterward.
He's lying. Neither O'Neal, nor Dwyane Wade, nor any member of the Miami Heat is holding anything back — especially not now, with just one victory separating them from the franchise's first NBA Finals berth.
Wade scored 12 of his 31 points in the final quarter Monday, leading a late push that carried Miami to an 89-78 win over the Detroit Pistons and a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals. O'Neal added 21 for Miami, which wasted an early 14-point lead before recovering and winning for the ninth time in 11 games.
"We don't want to get too high and mighty," O'Neal said. "Job's not done yet."
Udonis Haslem added 16 points for the Heat, who shot 55 percent compared to Detroit's 39 percent.
Tayshaun Prince had 15 points and Chauncey Billups added 14 for the Pistons, who'll host Game 5 on Wednesday night. Detroit committed 30 fouls to Miami's 19, leading to a 47-22 disparity in free throws attempted.
"We've got a lot of fight in us," Billups said. "We have been down 3-1 before — not against a team as good as the Heat, though. And they're playing great, man. You've got to give it to them. They are. They're playing great ball. Their great players are playing phenomenal and other guys are chipping in pretty well."
A year ago, two chances at ending Detroit's reign atop the East weren't enough for Miami, as the Pistons rallied from 3-2 down to win in seven games. Now, the Heat get three cracks at breaking through — and this time, Wade and O'Neal are healthy.
Miami's star duo was battling injuries toward the end of last year's East finals; O'Neal a thigh bruise, Wade a strained rib muscle. This year, they're feeling fine — and not because O'Neal added the occasional fast-break layup to his weaponry.
"That was lovely," Wade said. "I haven't seen that since Orlando, when he was young. And slim."
Slim would also apply to Detroit's chances, at least based how other teams fared in this situation.
Teams taking 3-1 leads in the penultimate round — either the conference finals or division finals, as they were once known — have prevailed 40 times in 43 previous opportunities, and each of the last 16 teams with a 3-1 cushion reached the Finals.
"One play can change a game, one game can change a series," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "Basically, what we've got to do is come up with that play."
Those oh-so-resilient Pistons — who've rallied from 2-1 or 3-2 series deficits five times since 2003 — dug deep in Game 4 to erase a 14-point first-half hole, going on a 29-11 run over a 7-minute stretch capped by Rasheed Wallace's 3-pointer with 5:04 left in the third for a 57-53 lead.
Detroit managed only three more points in the quarter, and Wade hit two free throws with 1.5 seconds left to put Miami up 62-60 entering the fourth. The Pistons never led again; still, their confidence seems intact.
"I'll take this five," Rasheed Wallace proclaimed, "over any five in the world."
Maybe so, but his five is having major trouble with Miami's best one.
Wade went nearly two full quarters without taking a shot, bottled a bit by Detroit's zone. He got rolling just in time.
"I'm just a kid. There's a kid inside of me who loves to play the game of basketball and is getting the opportunity to on the highest level," Wade said.
