Pistons flex muscles

MIAMI – The mismatches favored the Detroit Pistons, and the defending NBA champions kept finding and exploiting them.

Whether it was Tayshaun Prince outsizing Dwyane Wade, Rasheed Wallace taking his man outside or Chauncey Billups getting the better of Damon Jones, the Pistons played calmly and intelligently for 48 minutes and defeated the Miami Heat 90-81 Monday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Miami had Shaquille O’Neal back in its lineup after waiting almost until tipoff to find out whether he could play with a bruised right thigh. He opened the game by making his first four shots, but Detroit’s defense kept the Heat from running their offense through O’Neal for the rest of the game, and the big man wasn’t all that much of a factor, scoring 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting with five rebounds.

Wade also played relatively poorly for the Heat, scoring just 16 points on 7-of-25 shooting, frustrated for much of the night by Prince’s defense.

“They did a good job finding some matchups – I’m not taking that away from them – but what I think they did more was had great patience and execution and got good shots. We did not,” Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said.

Rasheed Wallace scored 20 points, Billups added 18, Richard Hamilton had 16, and Ben Wallace and Prince each scored 13 as all five Detroit starters reached double figures.

Game 2 is Wednesday night in Miami, and the Heat will have to find a way to cloak their shortcomings to avoid heading to Detroit down 2-0.

“I don’t know if we’ve gotten the same respect that other champions have, but we use that as motivation,” Billups said. “I think the teams we play against respect us more than the outside world does.”

The loss was the first for the Heat in nine postseason games, and their first of any kind since April 15. Coming off nine days rest since finishing off the Washington Wizards in the second round, the Heat were far from sharp and had poor shot selection.

O’Neal’s foul shot with 4:36 remaining was Miami’s final point.

“We didn’t shut them down. We just wanted it a little bit more,” Rasheed Wallace said.

Ben Wallace was the catalyst as the Pistons started to break the game open early in the third quarter.

After hitting a 12-footer and then drawing O’Neal’s first foul, he was left wide open for an 18-foot jumper that he also knocked down. Detroit’s center then stole the ball from O’Neal, leading to a possession on which Prince was isolated against Wade and worked his way inside for a bank shot. Wade turned to his bench after and gave a dejected, helpless look.

Pistons 90, Heat 81

Detroit (90)—Prince 6-14 0-0 13, R.Wallace 7-10 2-2 20, B.Wallace 6-12 1-2 13, Billups 6-15 5-6 18, Hamilton 7-20 2-2 16, Arroyo 0-2 0-0 0, McDyess 5-6 0-0 10, Campbell 0-1 0-0 0, Hunter 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 37-81 10-12 90.

Miami (81)—E.Jones 9-13 1-1 22, Haslem 3-7 0-0 6, O’Neal 9-14 2-4 20, D.Jones 2-6 0-1 5, Wade 7-25 2-2 16, Mourning 2-2 0-2 4, Dooling 4-7 0-0 8, Butler 0-3 0-0 0, Laettner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 36-77 5-10 81.

3-Point Goals—Detroit 6-11 (R.Wallace 4-5, Prince 1-1, Billups 1-3, B.Wallace 0-1, R.Hamilton 0-1), Miami 4-11 (E.Jones 3-4, D.Jones 1-4, Wade 0-1, Butler 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Detroit 48 (B.Wallace 13), Miami 44 (E.Jones 8). Assists—Detroit 20 (Arroyo 7), Miami 17 (D.Jones 5). Total Fouls—Detroit 12, Miami 12. Technicals—Detroit Defensive Three Second 2, Miami Defensive Three Second, Haslem, Mourning. A—20,203 (19,600).