Chicago Bulls' Luol Deng dunks on theDetroit Pistons during Game 4 of their second-round Eastern Conference NBA basketball game in Chicago yesterday. - Reuters CHICAGO (Reuters):
Playing for pride after a second-half collapse in Game Three, the Chicago Bulls staved off elimination in their Eastern Division semi-final series yesterday, beating the Detroit Pistons 102-87.
The win narrowed the series to 3-1. Detroit can clinch the best-of-seven series at home tomorrow.
Luol Deng top-scored with 25 points, while Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon each added 19 for the home team. Chauncey Billups scored 23 for Detroit, including 14 points in the fourth quarter and Tayshaun Prince had 18 points.
"Our guys clearly had no intention of rolling over today," Bulls coach Scott Skiles told reporters. "We looked more relaxed and played more at ease. We'll need far more of that on Tuesday."
After shooting 34 per cent from the floor in the first three games, Chicago shot 49 percent yesterday.
Detroit's loss ended a run of 22 playoff games in which the Pistons held their opponents to fewer than 100 points.
"Their overall energy and urgency was much more of a factor," said Detroit coach Flip Saunders. "Now we have a series and we're going to have to come out and win it."
Chicago ran up a 23-point lead late in the third quarter. But the gritty Pistons refused to roll over. The sell-out crowd at Chicago's United Center groaned as Detroit narrowed the lead to seven points, reviving memories of Thursday's comeback from 19 points down.
"(At that point) we weren't able to put enough pressure on them to see how they would react," said Saunders, who cited a Ben Gordon three-pointer with 3:20 to play as a turning point.
"We could feel a shift in momentum and were prepared for it," Hinrich said. "We realised we had nothing to lose."
No NBA team has come back from an 0-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven series.
DOMINANT DUNCAN
On Saturday, a dominant Tim Duncan scored 33 points and grabbed 19 rebounds to guide the San Antonio Spurs into a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semi-final against the Phoenix Suns with a 108-101 home victory.
The Spurs, who won the best-of-seven series opener in Phoenix to steal home-court advantage, will be looking to stretch their advantage to 3-1 with another home victory today.
"We always respond well after a loss, especially a loss like that," Duncan told reporters, referring to the Suns' 101-81 Game Two victory. "We wanted to protect our home court."
Shawn Marion scored 26 points for Phoenix, while a foul-plagued Amare Stoudemire wound up with 21.
The Suns have won only once in their last 11 games in San Antonio, dating back to the 2003 playoffs.
Meanwhile, Jason Kidd's triple-double - 23 points, 13 rebounds and 14 assists - powered the Nets to a 96-85 win over the Cavaliers in New Jersey, cutting Cleveland's lead in the Eastern Conference semi-finals to 2-1.
"Triple doubles mean nothing unless you win," Kidd said. "It was a great team effort tonight."
Cavaliers star LeBron James sank just 5-of-16 shots from the field and was restricted to 18 points.
