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Pistons Torch Sixers Again To Advance To Second Round

POSTED: 7:51 pm PDT May 1, 2008

(Sports Network) - Richard Hamilton scored 13 of his game- high 24 during a dominating first quarter for Detroit, and the sharp-shooting Pistons moved into the second round of the playoffs with a 100-77 rout of the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Pistons, who won the final three games to take their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series by a 4-2 margin, advanced to the conference semifinals for a seventh consecutive year.

Chauncey Billups added 20 points for Detroit, which shot 58.2 percent from the field. Billups and Hamilton combined to go 17-of-25 from the floor.

Tayshaun Prince tallied 12 points and Amir Johnson ended with 10 for the second-seeded Pistons, who will play Orlando in the next round. The Magic beat Toronto in five games.

Andre Iguodala had 16 points for the Sixers, who have been dismissed from the playoffs the last three times by the Pistons. They lost to Detroit in the 2003 East semifinals and to the Pistons in the first round in 2005.

Andre Miller and Lou Williams each had 11 points in defeat, as the Sixers struggled by shooting 33.8 percent.

It was an amazing charge for the Pistons, who outscored the Sixers essentially by 63 points over the final 2 1/2 games of the series. Philadelphia was ahead by 14 points at home late in the second quarter of Game 4, threatening to take a 3-1 series lead, but Detroit surged back to win 93-84, followed by a 98-81 triumph at the Palace in Game 5 on Tuesday.

The Pistons came out firing on all cylinders with the game's first 10 points and 16 of the opening 18 to make it a blowout. Hamilton accounted for the first seven points and Rasheed Wallace's three capped the burst.

A pair of free throws from Jason Maxiell extended the margin to 16-2 inside of seven minutes remaining, and Philadelphia's first field goal came nearly midway through the quarter on a right wing jumper from Miller for a 16-5 margin.

The largest lead of the period came at 28-9 following a pair of free throws from Hamilton with under two minutes to go, and the Pistons held a commanding 30-12 lead going into the second.

The Sixers didn't have an assist in the first quarter and shot 4-of-16 from the field. Conversely, Detroit was dominant with an 11-of-16 effort and seven assists.

Eight straight points from the Sixers closed the gap to 34-22 with 8 1/2 minutes left until halftime, with Samuel Dalembert's alley-oop jam off a feed from Williams culminating the flurry.

However, the Pistons responded with the next seven points, capped by an Antonio McDyess jumper from the left side.

Wallace and Billups nailed three-pointers later in the period, and Billups' jumper over Kevin Ollie at the buzzer moved the cushion to 51-33 at the half. Detroit made 60.6 percent of its shots in the opening 24 minutes, compared to 30.6 for the Sixers.

The Pistons never let the Sixers get close in the second half. Billups drilled a three-pointer from the left corner with the shot clock about to expire for a 64-43 lead midway through the third and Detroit's lead widened to 28 at the end of three at 79-51. Billups hit the final two shots of the period.

Prince's two free throws less than a minute into the fourth extended the margin to 31 points and it remained a wide margin the remainder of the game with Detroit reserves playing nearly the entire fourth quarter.

Game Notes

Detroit swept Orlando in the first round last year before beating Chicago in six games and then losing to Cleveland in six in the East finals. The Pistons and Magic split four games this season...The Pistons are trying to make it to the conference finals for a sixth consecutive year.


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