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PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania: TheDetroit Pistons booked
their second-round berth in the National Basketball Association
playoffs on Thursday with an emphatic 100-77
victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Richard Hamilton scored 24 points
and Chauncey Billups chipped in 20 with 7 assists for the Pistons,
who completed a 4-2 victory in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference
first-round series.
Tayshaun Prince added 12 points
for the second-seeded Pistons, who will open the conference
semifinals against the third-seeded Orlando Magic on Saturday.
The Pistons are seeking their
sixth straight appearance in the Eastern Conference finals.
The Pistons scored the first 10
points of the game and led 30-12 at the end of the first quarter.
Shooting an impressive 58 percent from the field, the Pistons never
looked back.
Andre Iguodala scored 16 points
for the Sixers, who lost the last three games of the series after
taking a 2-1 lead.
The Pistons had also trailed in
Game 4 before surging past the Sixers in the second half to set the
stage for their series victory.
“They beat us from the start to
the finish—from the fourth game’s second half, when we were up
10, until now,” Philadelphia coach Maurice Cheeks said.
Billups struggled for much of the
series but made his presence felt late, netting 11 points in the
second quarter on Thursday, including a jumper as time expired to
make it 51-33 at halftime.
--AFP
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