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Pistons rally over Suns to seal home court advantage

(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-04-03 08:47

NEW YORK - The Detroit Pistons clinched home court advantage through the Eastern Conference playoffs on Sunday with a 109-102 win over the Phoenix Suns in Auburn Hills.

Chauncey Billups hit a 3-pointer with 3:40 to play to put the Pistons ahead for good, giving the two-time defending East champions the extra home game in Conference series play.

"This is the third of our five steps," Detroit coach Flip Saunders told reporters after the game.

The first two goals Saunders had were to make the playoffs and win the division. After sealing home court advantage, the last two are to have the best record in the league and win a second NBA title in three seasons.

"This one might be the most important of the first four, because of the 2-2-1-1-1 format in the conference finals."

The Pistons (59-14) have lost just three home games all season and have the NBA's best overall record.

But Detroit had to rally from several big deficits to get their latest win, their eighth in the past nine games.

The Pistons trailed by 17 in the first half and by 16 points at one point in the third quarter. But two 7-0 runs in the third kept the game close until the fourth, when the Pistons finally found another gear and surged ahead.

"They come back all the time," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said. "That's probably why they've been to the Finals the past two years."

BALANCED SCORING

Detroit got balanced scoring from its starters, who extended their NBA record by playing their 73rd game starting together.

Billups scored 35 points, Tayshaun Prince had 23 and eight rebounds, while Rasheed Wallace had 15 points and 11 rebounds.