It was payback time for the Detroit Pistons. For the Portland Trail Blazers, it was just time.
Having suffered consecutive 20-point defeats and on the verge of elimination from the NBA playoffs, the Pistons handed the Atlanta Hawks a near-record 79-63 defeat Wednesday night."They were facing the prospect of going home if they lost," Atlanta guard Mookie Blaylock said. "They came out and did the job they had to do, and I tip my hat to them."
Portland snapped a six-year drought and finally got to the second round of the playoffs, completing a three-game sweep of the Phoenix Suns, 103-93. The Blazers had not won a playoff series since they went to the NBA Finals in 1992.
The 142-point Atlanta-Detroit game set an NBA playoff record for fewest points by both teams. The previous low was 143 when Chicago beat Miami 75-68 two years ago.
The 63 points were the fewest ever scored by the Hawks in a playoff game and the second-lowest in NBA history, eclipsed only by the 54 points scored by Utah against the Chicago Bulls in last year's finals.
TRAIL BLAZERS 103, SUNS 93: At Phoenix, Brian Grant scored six of his 20 points and Greg Anthony scored all eight of his points in the final four minutes, when Portland outscored the Suns 24-10.
Isaiah Rider added 18 points and Arvydas Sabonis had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacific Division champions, who will play the winner of the Utah-Sacramento series in the Western Conference semifinals.
Cliff Robinson, who played eight seasons with Portland, led the Suns with 24 points but had three turnovers and missed two free throws in the final 2 1/2 minutes. Jason Kidd had 16 points and 12 assists.
KNICKS 97, HEAT 73: In New York, the Knicks used an incredible 32-2 streak to defeat the Heat. The victory gave the Knicks a 2-1 lead in the best-of-5 series and left Miami on the brink of first-round elimination at New York's hands for the second straight season.
If the Heat lose Game 4 on Friday, they will become just the second top-seeded team in NBA history to lose to a No. 8 seed.
Latrell Sprewell led New York with 20 points, while Allan Houston had 18.