Alumni Update:
Ben Wallace Turns Offensive Weapon for Pistons

By Roscoe Nance, USA TODAY

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The Detroit Pistons ended the New Jersey Nets' two-year reign as Eastern Conference champions thanks to their new offensive weapon — Ben Wallace.

The Pistons' Ben Wallace, left, high-fives teammate Rasheed Wallace during their 90-69 rout of the Nets. By Duane Burleson, AP

Yes, that Ben Wallace, the defensive specialist who is always at or near the top of the NBA in rebounding, blocked shots and hustle plays.

Wallace scored 18 points, his high for the postseason and two shy of his career high, as the Pistons defeated the Nets 90-69 Thursday to advance to the conference finals for the second year in a row. Detroit will face the top-seeded Indiana Pacers, who are coached by Rick Carlisle. Carlisle coached the Pistons to back-to-back 50-win seasons in two years with them but was fired last summer and replaced by Hall of Famer Larry Brown.

"It's amazing that we'll be facing him, isn't it?" Richard Hamilton said. "The buildup is going to be unbelievable. We know we'll have to be aggressive because we know that coach likes to grind."

Wallace was 8-for-10 from the field and did his usual yeoman-like job defensively with eight rebounds and two blocked shots.

"My shot was feeling good," said Wallace, who put in extra time with assistant coach Mike Woodson on Thursday morning after the Pistons shoot-around. "I work hard on it day in and day out. Tonight was one of those nights when it was falling.

"Three other Pistons starters scored in double figures. Chauncey Billups had a game-high 22 points. Hamilton added 21 and Rasheed Wallace 12.

Their offensive production was expected. Ben Wallace's wasn't, and it gave the Pistons a much-needed lift after the Nets got out to an early six-point lead.

"I knew Ben would go 8-for-10, hit all his jumpers," Brown joked. "That was a big lift for us shooting the ball the way he did, because you know the other things are going to be there."

Equally as unexpected was the poor game that Jason Kidd turned in for the Nets. Kidd, who has been bothered by a bone bruise in his left knee, was scoreless. He missed all eight of his field goal attempts and had seven assists and five rebounds. His previous low in the playoffs in his three seasons with the Nets was a five-point performance in Game 3 against Detroit.

"We don't make excuses," Kidd said when asked if the knee was the reason for his bad game. "I tried to give it everything I had. Detroit was the better team.

"Kidd will talk to his doctor about possible surgery and said he probably won't play in August's Olympics."

I thought New Jersey was going to come out with a lot more energy and play a lot harder," Ben Wallace said.

"If you would've told me that we were going blow this team out, coming into a Game 7, I would've told you you're crazy."

Two of New Jersey's stars — Richard Jefferson and Kenyon Martin — had solid games with 17 points each, but it was not enough to overcome Kidd's brutal performance and Detroit's defense.

Since Kidd was traded to New Jersey three years ago, the Nets advanced to the NBA finals twice — without experiencing a Game 7. In fact, New Jersey played in its first Game 7 as an NBA franchise on Thursday night.

The Nets had to know they were in trouble when Ben Wallace, who usually just rebounds and defends, was taking and making shots from the perimeter.

He finished just two points short of his career high. With their raucous crowd on its feet for much of the game, the Pistons became the 73rd team out of 88 to win a Game 7 at home.

"We're back to where we were last year. We need to take it one step further," Ben Wallace said.

Rasheed Wallace, who made Detroit a championship contender when he was acquired in February, had 12 points and seven rebounds.

New Jersey's Kerry Kittles scored 18, and Rodney Rogers added 13. Rogers was the only Nets player who had played in a Game 7 before.

The Pistons had 10 such players, including four who were not a part of Detroit's win in Game 7 of the first round against Orlando last year.

With the series victory, Detroit became just the 20th of 116 teams to advance after falling behind 3-2. The Pistons routed New Jersey in Games 1-2, then the Nets won big at home in the next two games.

The Nets won Game 5 — a four-hour, three-overtime thriller — then with a chance to close out the series at home, they lost Game 6. The Nets built an early six-point lead before Billups' 3-pointer put the Pistons ahead for good with 6:24 left in the first quarter.

The game turned into a rout when the Pistons opened the second half with a 14-2 run — capped by Ben Wallace's thunderous follow jam — to go up 57-33.

The Nets went more than eight minutes without a basket over the second and third quarters. Detroit led by as many as 25 in the third quarter, and took a 73-50 lead into the fourth.

Just when the Nets looked like they might make it interesting by scoring the first eight points of the final quarter to pull within 15, Billups and Hamilton made consecutive 3-pointers and a steal led to Mehmet Okur's alley-oop dunk.

"Our guys gave it everything they had, but Detroit was just the better team," said Nets interim coach Lawrence Frank, who replaced Byron Scott in midseason.

Game 1 between the Pistons and Pacers is Saturday night at Indianapolis.