Play-offs results
MIAMI (NBA) - Dwyane Wade scored 35 points as the Miami Heat posted a 98-83 victory over the Detroit Pistons to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
Shaquille O'Neal collected 27 points and 12 rebounds for Miami, who are now halfway to avenging a seven-game loss to Detroit in last year's Conference finals.
The second-seeded Heat can now put the Pistons on the brink of elimination on Monday when the teams meet in Game Four.
The top-seeded Pistons never led after the first three minutes but opened the fourth quarter with a crisp 11-0 run to close to 74-73 on back-to-back three-pointers by Chauncey Billups with 7:45 left.
Miami coach Pat Riley called a time-out and his two superstars promptly delivered consecutive baskets to restore order.
Wade drove to the rim and converted a difficult three-point play to begin the 24-10 burst and O'Neal added a hook shot in the lane for a 79-73 lead.
The baskets by Wade and O'Neal sparked an 11-2 run for the Heat, who took an 85-75 lead with 4:26 to play.
Richard Hamilton made four free throws to bring Detroit back to 85-79 with 3:49 left but Wade answered with two foul shots of his own and Antoine Walker fed
Udonis Haslem for a jumper to restore a 10-point lead.
The closest the Pistons got the rest of the way was 91-83 on a three-pointer by Billups with 2:15 remaining.
It was their first basket in five-and-a-half minutes and was promptly answered by Wade, who made two foul shots and converted a three-point play to seal the victory.
Wade finished 13-of-17 from the field and 9-of-11 from the line, adding eight rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.
Walker scored 11 points and Haslem 10 for Miami, who shot a blistering 58% (39-of-67) and dominated the boards 40-27.
Meanwhile, the usually solid Pistons never got into an offensive rhythm as they shot just 42% (27-of-64) and committed 14 turnovers.
And the two-time defending Conference champions made just 22-of-33 free throws, including only 2-of-10 by Ben Wallace, who has made just 13-of-56 foul shots this post-season.
Billups scored 31 points on 11-of-17 shooting and Hamilton added 20 but made just 6-of-15 shots.
Tayshaun Prince scored the Pistons' first three points but none thereafter, while Rasheed Wallace managed just 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting.
Wade scored 11 points in the opening quarter and finished the first half with 15 on 7-of-9 shooting, helping the Heat to a 49-38 lead at intermission.
He scored 11 straight points for Miami at one point and capped the opening half with an under-handed alley-oop feed to O'Neal in the waning seconds.
O'Neal also came out strong in the early stages of the contest, scoring 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the first half.
He grabbed eight rebounds in the opening 24 minutes, while Detroit's starting frontcourt combined for only 10 boards in that stretch.
PA Sport