Pistons Wrap Up No. 2 Seed

[April 07, 2008]  MIAMI (AP) -- Rodney Stuckey scored 19 points, Tayshaun Prince added 14 on 6-for-7 shooting and the Detroit Pistons wrapped up the No. 2 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs by beating the Miami Heat 91-75 on Sunday.

Jarvis Hayes, Jason Maxiell, Juan Dixon and Arron Afflalo each scored 10 points for the Pistons, who won their fifth straight and improved to 55-21. The win also means that the top three spots in the East -- Boston, Detroit and Orlando, in that order -- are now set, although it's been a foregone conclusion they would wind up that way for weeks.

Earl Barron scored 20 points for Miami, which lost its seventh straight, fell to 13-64 and moved closer to clinching the NBA's worst record. With that comes one bright spot: The Heat would have the best chance of getting the No. 1 pick in June's draft.

Chris Quinn finished with 14 points and seven rebounds for the Heat. Ricky Davis had 11 points and nine rebounds and Mark Blount scored 10 for Miami.

The Pistons were without Antonio McDyess, who was inactive and sat out for the first time since mid-November. The Pistons' leading scorer, Richard Hamilton, also sat out for the sixth time in the last seven games with a sore hip, although he's expected back in Detroit's lineup by mid-week.

Detroit didn't need them, nor much from its starters, either.

None of the Pistons' opening five Sunday played more than 28 minutes, and they got long stretches of rest during the game, too. The fivesome combined to play a total of 3 minutes, 28 seconds in the second quarter, which actually was a period where Detroit outscored Miami 20-11 to take a 39-27 lead into the intermission.

Prince went 5-for-5 in the third quarter, a period that ended with Billups missing a layup badly -- but being credited for an alley-oop assist to Maxiell, who laid the errant shot in for a 68-54 lead entering the fourth.

Davis made a 30-foot 3-pointer as the shot clock expired with 8 1/2 minutes left, drawing Miami within 70-61, but the Pistons put it away with a quick 10-0 run, with Stuckey scoring six of those points.

One Miami highlight: The Heat honored center Alonzo Mourning with a halftime ceremony.

Mourning, who entered the year insisting it would be his final season, saw the year cut short by a devastating knee injury in December, which figured to end his career. But in recent weeks, he's been speaking like someone who hasn't totally ruled out yet another comeback attempt.

"Time will dictate my basketball future," Mourning told the crowd.

Another rare Heat highlight from this dismal season could come Monday, when coach Pat Riley -- a seven-time NBA champion and the third-winningest coach in league history -- is expected to be announced as part of the 2008 class entering the Basketball Hall of Fame.

This year's group of enshrinees will be announced in San Antonio, a few hours before the Kansas-Memphis NCAA title game.

"I've never been big on individual awards," Riley said. "But this is different."

Notes: Detroit was 4-0 against Miami this season. ... Hamilton could be back in Detroit's lineup in time for either Tuesday's game with the Knicks or Wednesday's trip to Philadelphia. ... Barron took nine of Miami's first 13 shots. He started 5-for-7 in the first 5:25, then missed his next eight and didn't record another field goal until 4:15 remained in the game. ... The Heat fell to 2-31 when scoring under 90 points.

[Associated Press; By TIM REYNOLDS]

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