AUBURN HILLS, Mich., June 14 -- When Ben Wallace walked to center court at the start of Game 3, his jersey color wasn’t the only change in his appearance from the two Pistons’ losses in San Antonio; Ben let his hair down, or, technically, out.
“She said let your hair down and go out there and play some basketball,” Wallace said when a reporter asked if his wife chose his hairdo, “or else you can’t eat.”
The Spurs would see another change, too: A meaner, more aggressive Big Ben.
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Thinking, "'Fro or cornrows?" for Game 4, young man? Read on ...
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Wallace owned the first quarter, ending it with five blocks – tying Bob Lanier's franchise record for blocks in a single quarter – and giving the home fans an early cause for celebration.
"We had a sellout crowd here waiting to cheer for something,” Wallace said after the game. “We knew we had to come out early and give them something to cheer for and get them excited, and also get everybody else motivated and ready to play. Once we got the crowd into it, we were able to play off of them."
The other Wallace, Rasheed, was one of those motivated by Ben's early energy. The Pistons forced the ball early to Rasheed in the post, where he deftly dropped shots over the Spurs defense. And, those shots not dropping required four or five hops on the iron before the Pistons players attacked the offensive glass – Detroit collected 17 of their own misses in the game.
A key difference from the two losses in San Antonio was how Detroit attacked the boards.
“When we didn’t get [the rebound],” explained Tayshaun Prince, “we did a good job of keeping some balls alive by tipping them out and things like that. Just attacking, attacking, attacking.”
Attacking could also describe the pressure applied to Manu Ginobili – the player hearing chants of “M-V-P” during Games 1 and 2 at the SBC Center. The Pistons kept the pressure on Ginobili, challenging every shot. When he did take the ball to the rim, the defense was there to contest or deflect any shot attempts, making him second guess each successive attempt. The result: Seven points, on 2-of-6 shooting, to go along with six turnovers.
On the opposite side of the boxscore was Richard Hamilton, finally able to shake Bruce Bowen and get open looks. After shooting a miserable 12-of-36 combined in the first two contests, Rip torched the Spurs for 24 points on 11-of-23 shooting.
While Hamilton finally shook Bowen, the Pistons couldn’t shake the pesky Spurs until a late third quarter and early fourth quarter run created some separation. Down 27-21 after one, Detroit allowed San Antonio a mere four points during a nearly eight minute stretch to start the second. The Spurs, however, got right back in the ballgame with a Parker layup and a trey from Bowen on consecutive trips down the court.
The Pistons’ bench fueled the late run, as Antonio McDyess and Lindsey Hunter brought The Palace fans to their feet. With a little over one minute remaining in the third, McDyess tipped in a Ben Wallace misfire. Seconds later, Hunter received the outlet pass from Wallace and got the transition layup and the foul. After Hunter converted on the free throw, McDyess picked off a Brent Barry pass. Hamilton missed the ensuing short jumper, but McDyess was there to dunk home the rebound. The Pistons closed out the quarter holding a lead at the end of a period for the first time since the first quarter of Game 1.
“Them guys came in there with a lot of energy,” Hamilton said after the game; “Lindsey did defensively and Antonio did offensively. They did everything possible to put us in a situation where we could get a lead and win the basketball game.”
Notes: The Pistons are now 4-2 in this year’s playoffs when Wallace dons the ‘fro; 9-6 when he sports cornrows. In the first round, Detroit was 3-1 when Wallace wore his hair tied up tight, and a mere 6-5 after dispatching the Sixers in five games. With 11 rebounds Tuesday, Wallace snapped a five-game slump of single-digit rebounding – all while wearing cornrows. His last previous double-digit outing was May 31 against Miami, the last time he let his hair out.
The Game 3 victory marked Larry Brown’s 98th career NBA Playoff coaching win. Brown is fourth on the all-time NBA Playoff win list, behind Phil Jackson (175), Pat Riley (155) and Red Auerbach (99). Another win over the Spurs will enable Brown to tie Auerbach for third place.
Detroit’s 96 points in Game 3 ended a record streak in which San Antonio held opponents to fewer than 90 points in each of the 13 prior Finals games in their history.
Chauncey Billups’ 20-point outing gives him 1,012 career Playoff points in a Pistons jersey. He’s the sixth Piston in franchise history to reach the 1,000 point plateau, joining Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Vinnie Johnson, Bill Laimbeer and Richard Hamilton, who reached the milestone in Game 1 of this year’s conference semifinals against Indiana.
-- Jeff Dengate will be covering the Pistons beat throughout the Finals.