INQUIRER Sports

Orlando, Florida, USA — Richard Hamilton scored 32 points and Hedo Turkoglu missed a layup with time running out as the Detroit Pistons beat the Orlando Magic 90-89 to take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Tayshaun Prince scored 17 for Detroit, including an 11-foot runner for the go-ahead basket with 8.9 seconds left. Rasheed Wallace had 16 points and eight rebounds. Antonio McDyess had eight points and 14 boards.

Orlando squandered a 15-point lead in the third quarter. After Prince's basket, Turkoglu's layup from the left side of the lane was no good and didn't draw a foul, and Dwight Howard's putback was also off the mark.

The Pistons, the first team to win on the road in the second round, can clinch the series when it returns to Detroit on Tuesday.
Without Billups

The Pistons won despite playing without All-Star point guard Chauncey Billups, held out after straining his hamstring in Thursday's game.

Turkoglu scored 20 for Orlando and three players added 15 points - Rashard Lewis, Maurice Evans and Jameer Nelson.

Pistons rookie Rodney Stuckey made his first playoff start in place of Billups, but Hunter took over the ballhandling duties much of the time with Stuckey in foul trouble. Hunter rarely appeared in the regular season, playing a career-low 24 games and spending 46 on the inactive list in his 15th pro year. He looked rusty early but finished with eight points and three assists.

Cavs slice semis deficit to 2-1

Cleveland, USA — While his famous daddy got dressed after the game, 3-year-old LeBron James Jr. practiced writing his letters and numbers on a dry-erase board inside the Cavaliers’ locker room.

First, he drew an L. Then, a 2. “Put up a 2 and 3 for me,” No. 23 told his little namesake.

Maybe a 2 and 1 would have been more appropriate. The Cavaliers have trimmed Boston’s lead in half.

The shots didn't drop again for James, and it hardly mattered. His teammates made most of theirs.

James scored 21 points on another off-shooting night, but Delonte West scored 21, Joe Smith had 17 and the Cavaliers raced to a large, early lead in Game 3 in a 108-84 victory over the road-challenged Boston Celtics to pull within 2-1 in their playoff series.

West, who spent three seasons wearing Celtic green and white, carried the scoring load for the Cavaliers, who are attempting to become the 14th team in NBA history to come back from an 0-2 deficit and win a best-of-seven series.

They've had practice at it.

Last year, the Cavaliers lost the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals to Detroit before beating the Pistons four in a row to advance to the finals for the first time.

After dropping Games 1 and 2 in Boston, Cleveland needed James (8-of-42 in the losses) to shoot his way out of a slump.

James was only 5-of-16 from the floor, but his teammates stepped it up, going a combined 32-of-54 (59 percent). Cleveland roared to a 32-13 lead after one quarter, led by 17 at half, 16 after three and easily withstood a few Boston counter punches.

"We came out, jumped on them and didn't give it back," West said.

James' 22.4 field goal percentage in the first three games is the worst of any three-game stretch in playoff history since the 1977-78 ABA-NBA merger. Still, he was only concerned about one thing.

The Celtics remain lost on the road, and Game 4 is Monday night in Cleveland. /AP