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The last rites were administered quickly by the Detroit Pistons, who used a 30-12 first quarter to defeat the Sixers, 100-77, at the Wachovia Center and win the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal, four games to two.
The Sixers dropped the last three games of the series. The free fall began in the third quarter of Game 4, when Detroit outscored the Sixers by 34-16 on the way to a 93-84 victory.
In Game 5, the Pistons pounded the Sixers by 35-21 in the first quarter en route to a 98-81 win.
"They beat us from the start to the finish - from the fourth game's second half, when we were up 10, until now," a weary Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said.
After winning Game 5, Detroit's players had insisted they would keep the heat on.
The Pistons meant business. They played as if their backs were to the wall, while the Sixers simply hit the wall.
Detroit's Richard "Rip" Hamilton, who professes to love playing near his Coatesville home, showed why last night. In the first quarter, Hamilton scored 13 points, hitting five of six shots from the field and all three foul shots.
The Sixers shot 4 for 16 in the first quarter and committed six turnovers.
Game, set, match.
"Our feeling was we wanted to jump on them early," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said.
Hamilton finished with 24 points, while Chauncey Billups, who came out of his funk in Game 5, added 20.
For the Sixers, Andre Iguodala scored 16 points on 4-for-7 shooting and Andre Miller had 11 points and two assists. Miller averaged just 3.3 assists in the series. Samuel Dalembert ended his disappointing series with eight points and six rebounds.
Iguodala did not distinguish himself in this series, shooting 33.3 percent and averaging 13.2 points. He did play better in the final two games.
"The offense is centered around me, and they did a good job of making other guys do the scoring and I had to find other ways to be effective," Iguodala said. "You learn a lot about yourself, whether you shut down or keep fighting."
He paused.
"I learned a lot about what I have to do this summer," Iguodala said.
In the second quarter, the Sixers scored eight straight points to cut the lead to 12, but it proved to be a tease. Detroit responded with a 7-0 run.
When Billups hit a pull-up jumper at the buzzer, it gave the Pistons a 51-33 halftime lead. Things only deteriorated in the second half for the Sixers.
The Sixers often double-teamed the ball, but the Pistons would find the open man and he would sink the shot.
In the first half, Detroit shot 20 for 33 and 4 for 9 from three-point range, and for good measure sank all seven free throws. The Sixers were 11 for 36 and just 1 for 7 from beyond the arc.
"I didn't think they could continue making the shots they made throughout the game," Cheeks said. "And they did. We never got a run and never got anything going."
By halftime, some in the crowd of 14,130 voiced their displeasure with a sound the home team had not heard much lately: Boo!
When the Sixers led the series by two games to one and owned a double-digit halftime advantage in Game 4, it provided hope for the local faithful.
Looking back, it was false hope.
Detroit has been accused of turning the switch on and off, but the real difference was that the Pistons started making shots, starting with the second half of Game 4. And many of them were wide open.
The Sixers struggled in the half-court offense, not only in this series but also all season. Detroit had great ball movement, even in the games in which the Pistons were not shooting well.
Once the Pistons got their shooting eyes, it was like a kick in the teeth to the Sixers.
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