Nets Triple Pleasure With Game 5 Victory
Jefferson Is Difference in Extra Sessions: Nets 127, Pistons 120
By Larry Lage
Associated Press
Saturday, May 15, 2004; Page D01
AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 14 -- A grueling game that took four hours to play and three overtimes to decide could not slow down Richard Jefferson.
Jefferson scored 18 of his 31 points after regulation Friday night to lead the New Jersey Nets to a 127-120 victory over Detroit and a 3-2 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Detroit's Chauncey Billups, who scored 31 points, forced the first overtime when he stepped just over half court and hoisted a shot that went off the backboard and in at the buzzer.
Reserve forward Brian Scalabrine had a career-high 17 points and went 4 for 4 from three-point range for the Nets, including one that gave New Jersey a 122-118 lead with about 40 seconds left in the third overtime.
"I'm not surprised, basketball players always believe in themselves," Scalabrine said. "It was just great to be a part of an unbelievable game like this. Every time we went to another OT, and it seemed like there were six of them, I thought 'Great! I get to play five more minutes.' "
It was the fourth playoff game to go three or more overtimes, and the first since Phoenix beat Chicago, 129-121, in Game 3 of the 1993 NBA Finals.
Game 6 is Sunday in New Jersey, and if necessary, Game 7 will be Thursday back in suburban Detroit.
History is on the Nets' side.
Out of 115 best-of-seven series that have been tied at two games, the winner of Game 5 has advanced 96 times (83 percent).
If the two-time defending Eastern Conference champion Nets win one of the next two games, they will join just seven other teams to win a best-of-seven series after trailing 0-2.
"This only counts as one win, but it was a special one," Nets Coach Lawrence Frank said. "Our team won this game with will and heart."
The game was close, unlike the first four.
The Pistons won Games 1 and 2 by a combined 37 points, and New Jersey won the next two by a total of 33. For just the third time in a best-of-seven series, the first four games were decided by 15 points or more.
With four players on each team having fouled out, Scalabrine, a relative unknown, came through for the Nets.
© 2004 The Washington Post Company
|
|
 
| |
"Every time we went to another OT . . . I thought 'Great! I get to play five more minutes,' " said Brian Scalabrine, who finished with 17 points.
(Gregory Shamus -- Reuters)
|
| _Second-Round Schedule, Results_
Eastern Conference Detroit vs. New Jersey
Game 1: Pistons 78, Nets 56
Game 2: Pistons 95, Nets 80
Game 3: Nets 82, Pistons 64
Game 4: Nets 94, Pistons 79
Game 5: Nets 127, Pistons 120
Game 6: Pistons 81, Nets 75
Game 7: Pistons 90, Nets 69
• Pistons win series, 4-3 Miami vs. Indiana
Game 1: Pacers 94, Heat 81
Game 2: Pacers 91, Heat 80
Game 3: Heat 94, Pacers 87
Game 4: Heat 100, Pacers 88
Game 5: Pacers 94, Heat 83
Game 6: Pacers 73, Heat 70
• Pacers win series, 4-2
Western Conference Minnesota vs. Sacramento
Game 1: Kings 104, Wolves 98
Game 2: Wolves 94, Kings 89
Game 3: Wolves 114, Kings 113
Game 4: Kings 87, Wolves 81
Game 5: Wolves 86, Kings 74
Game 6: Kings 104, Wolves 87
Game 7: Wolves 83, Kings 80
• Timberwolves win series, 4-3 San Antonio vs. L.A. Lakers
Game 1: Spurs 88, Lakers 78
Game 2: Spurs 95, Lakers 85
Game 3: Lakers 105, Spurs 81
Game 4: Lakers 98, Spurs 90
Game 5: Lakers 74, Spurs 73
Game 6: Lakers 88, Spurs 76
• Lakers win series, 4-2
All times Eastern
| | |
|
