Pistons pound Bulls
The Detroit Pistons punished the Chicago Bulls inside and out – again.
Tayshaun Prince scored 25 points on an array of mid-range shots, a dunk in traffic and 3-pointers to lead Detroit to a 108-87 victory and a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals at Auburn Hills, Mich.
Game 3 is Thursday in Chicago, giving the Bulls time to figure something out after being dominated in consecutive games.
Even though Prince led the way, he had plenty of help.
Richard Hamilton had 24 points, Chris Webber scored 22, and Chauncey Billups had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Rasheed Wallace added 10 points.
Chicago’s Tyrus Thomas scored 12 of his 18 points in the final quarter to prevent the Pistons from winning by 26, as they did in the series opener, but the Bulls’ stars did not shine.
Luol Deng scored 16 on 4-of-12 shooting, Ben Gordon and Ben Wallace each scored 13 and Kirk Hinrich was held to two points on 0-for-7 shooting.
Just as it did in Game 1, Detroit took control of the game with a big run in the first quarter and prevented the Bulls from rallying the rest of the way.
The Pistons led by 24 points early in the second quarter, 23 late in the third and had inside-and-out answers when Thomas helped Chicago pull to 93-80 midway through the fourth.
Rasheed Wallace dunked on Thomas and Billups made a 3-pointer to end the comeback hopes for the Bulls, who emptied their bench a few minutes later.
The Pistons are 6-0 in the playoffs this season, the franchise’s best winning streak in a postseason since closing the 1989 championship run with seven straight wins.
Jazz 116, Warriors 112: At Salt Lake City, Carlos Boozer put back an offensive rebound with 17 seconds left to break a tie and Matt Harpring added two free throws 10 seconds later, giving Utah a victory over Golden State in the opener of the Western Conference semifinals.
Boozer scored 17 points and pulled down 20 rebounds, getting his last after Mehmet Okur’s 3-pointer bounced off the rim to Boozer in the lane for the go-ahead basket and a 114-112 advantage.
Stephen Jackson tried to put the Warriors back ahead with a 3-pointer, but it was short and Harpring ended up with the rebound after a scrum in the lane. Harpring made both shots and the Warriors didn’t have time to make up the deficit.
Okur had 21 points and 11 rebounds for Utah, which outrebounded the Warriors 54-36.
Baron Davis led Golden State with 24 points and seven assists.
Van Gundy ponders leave
Frustrated by his team’s ouster in the first round, Jeff Van Gundy plans to take some time to evaluate his future as coach of the Houston Rockets.
The Rockets’ season ended Saturday with a Game 7 loss to Utah, and a report in the New York Post the next day said Van Gundy was going to retire.
“I do the same thing every year since I’ve been coaching – I sit back and I think about what’s right for the team and what’s right for myself,” Van Gundy said Monday. “This is no different.”
Van Gundy has no immediate plans to make a major decision.
“To do that, when I’m still emotionally frustrated with the outcome (of the series) would be, really, a disservice to everybody involved,” he said. “Where that originated, I haven’t seen the story, so I can’t tell you. When I got called about it, it caught me off-guard a little bit.”
Van Gundy has one year left on his nonguaranteed contract, meaning the Rockets have the right to terminate it any time after June 30. Van Gundy said he had no timetable for meeting with Rockets owner Les Alexander.