It began to slip away in the second quarter when Isiah Thomas went into his unconscious mode and John Salley blocked three shots in three minutes.
Slowly, one emotion boiled over and washed away another Sunday as the Detroit Pistons destroyed the Chicago Bulls 93-74 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals and advanced to the NBA finals for the third consecutive year.Detroit ousted Chicago 4-3, with each team winning on its homecourt. The Pistons collected their 13th consecutive home playoff victory before 21,454 ear-shattering fans at the Palace.
"I never heard it louder," Thomas said of the crowd noise. "I thought it was like Chicago Stadium. It was a big, big factor."
The Pistons now advance to face the Portland Trail Blazers, the Western Conference champions, in Game 1 Tuesday night at the Palace. Game 2 will be played Thursday night.
"I thought it was a great series," said Pistons coach Chuck Daly, whose team has beaten Chicago two straight years in the conference finals. "I didn't anticipate it going seven games, but that's what the homecourt advantage is for."
The Pistons, appearing in their fourth consecutive conference final, made all the big plays when they had to make them. They made most of them during an eight-minute second-quarter surge that, in essence, decided the outcome of the game.
Thomas, the Pistons' playmaker, and Salley, the defensive specialist, helped Detroit outscore Chicago 33-19 in the period. The Bulls shot only 21 percent (5-for-24).
Thomas, who led the Pistons with 21 points and 11 assists, scored seven points in the quarter and hot-wired the offense with explosive moves off the dribble. Once, Thomas drove the lane and passed to Salley at the last moment for a dunk shot.
Thomas just missed getting a triple-double. A 6-foot-1 guard, he had eight rebounds.
"It's the best game I've had this series," Thomas said. "Against Indiana and New York I've been shooting well, but in this series I haven't been shooting well."
Thomas shot 7-for-16 from the floor on Sunday after shooting 39 percent in six previous games against Chicago.
One minute, the Bulls were leading 27-25. The next, Detroit was gone with the wind.
Chicago led 19-17 after one quarter - that's right, 19-17 - and appeared capable of taking the game right down to the final minute and letting superstar Michael Jordan determine the outcome.
But that's when the Pistons unveiled their trapping defense, and Daly turned Salley loose on the Bulls' shooters.
After the Pistons' pressured the ball into the frontcourt, Salley intimidated Chicago with four blocks in the period - including three during a three-minute span. He recorded blocks on two straight Chicago possessions. One time he swatted Bill Cartwright's sweeping hook shot. Salley fnished with 14 points and five blocks.
"Salley played great basketball, blocking and changing their shots," Daly said. "He's played well throughout the playoffs. He likes the money, because you get more with each round."
Chicago held its final lead of the game at 27-25 when Jordan followed in a Horace Grant miss. From there, the Bulls failed to score on 12 of their next 15 possessions.
With reserve Mark Aguirre scoring 10 points, Detroit finished off the assault with a 21-4 run that resulted in a 48-33 halftime lead.
The Pistons played flawlessly when they could afford nothing less, shooting 82 percent (14-for-17), committing only three turnovers and consistently running down loose balls and errant shots.
Chicago never got any closer than 10 points. The Bulls, who trailed by as many as 22 points, pulled to within 69-59 at the end of three.
Jordan, double- and triple-teamed, still managed to score a game-high 31 points - 21 in the second half. He had eight rebounds and nine assists. But he had to play 45 minutes because his teammates were suffering from Game 7-itis.
The Pistons negated the Bulls' frontline, limiting Cartwright, Scottie Pippen and Grant to 18 points. Pippen and Grant combined to shoot 4-for-27 from the floor. Pippen, who shot 1-for-10, said he was suffering from a migraine headache and blurred vision.
Outside of Jordan, none of the guards came to play. Craig Hodges, the hero in Game 6, shot 3-for-13 - 2-for-12 from three-point range. Rookie B.J. Armstrong was 1-for-8. John Paxson did not play because of a badly sprained ankle.
As a team, the Bulls shot 31.1 percent.
"I think it was more or less the pressure, the nervousness, the inexperience," Jordan said. "For the young guys it can be very intimidating. The inexperience killed us."
Detroit, which shot 51.4 percent, had five players score in double figures. Aguirre had 15 points and 10 rebounds in 25 minutes. The 74 points by Chicago was a Pistons' playoff record for fewest points allowed.
It was just another 9-to-5 day for the Pistons, who have been in this situation before.
Their only reaction to the pressure is to have no reaction.
"We felt confident," Thomas said. "Some felt it was a big game for Chicago, but it was not a big game for us."