![]() Detroit's Tayshaun Prince blocks Hedo Turkoglu's attempt to cut the lead to one late in the fourth quarter. Detroit sealed it with free throws.
RASHAUN RUCKER / MCT
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Pistons take care of ball, MagicThe Associated Press
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.14.2008
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The Detroit Pistons missed 64percent of their shots and had a rookie filling in for an All-Star at point guard. It did not matter.
Detroit set an NBA playoff record with three turnovers and made just enough shots and stops to advance to their sixth straight Eastern Conference final with a 91-86 victory Tuesday night over the Orlando Magic in Game 5 of the second-round series.
Richard Hamilton scored 31 points and made victory-sealing free throws late in the game, and Tayshaun Prince had a key block to help Detroit eliminate Orlando.
The Pistons are the first franchise to play in six straight conference finals since the Lakers went to eight straight in the 1980s.
"Now we expect to do this," Hamilton said. "We're supposed to be here."
The Pistons will have a break before facing the Celtics or the Cavaliers, and that will help Chauncey Billups, who missed his second straight game with a strained right hamstring.
"It's good to get this over with," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said. "Now we get a chance to rest."
Orlando made just 16 of 28 free throws and had a playoff-high 21 turnovers, which turned into 34 points for Detroit.
Hedo Turkoglu had 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Magic. Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson each had 14 points.
● Hornets 101, Spurs 79: In New Orleans, David West and the Hornets sure looked happy to be at home.
West had career playoff highs of 38 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots to give New Orleans a 3-2 series lead.
New Orleans looked impressive in winning the first two games at home but stumbled in San Antonio. Back in the Big Easy, the Hornets cruised again in the second half.
Chris Paul had 16 of his 22 points in the final half and added 14 assists for New Orleans, which has never advanced past the second round of the playoffs.
Manu Ginobili led San Antonio with 20 points, and Tony Parker had 18. The Hornets held Tim Duncan to 10 points, though he was a force on the glass with 23 rebounds.
Morris Peterson had 12 points for New Orleans on four three-pointers as he picked up the slack for Peja Stojakovic, who was guarded closely again.
Game 6 is Thursday night in San Antonio, where the Spurs are 5-0 in the postseason.
● Spurs forward Robert Horry appeared in his 238th playoff game to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the NBA record.
Rim shots
● Mike D'Antoni is bringing his high-scoring brand of basketball to a Knicks team that seems ill-suited to run it.
No matter. The former Suns coach figures he will come up with something that works.
"I will adapt what I do. Now I like to play fast, move the ball and all that stuff, and we'll try to do that as best as we can," D'Antoni said Tuesday.
"Obviously you're going to be a little slower than (the Suns), but at the same time there's no reason why you can't run, be exciting and have good ball movement."
The Knicks are counting on it, hoping one of the NBA's top offensive coaches can turn around a team with seven straight losing seasons — and make New York an exciting future destination for free agents who want to play his entertaining style.
D'Antoni was introduced as the Knicks' 24th coach during a news conference at Madison Square Garden, four days after agreeing to leave the Suns for a $24 million, four-year contract.
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