Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 16, 1990 TAG: 9005160160
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: AUBURN HILLS, MICH. LENGTH: Medium
Detroit's reserves, led by Mark Aguirre's 25 points, outscored New York's reserves 44-17 Tuesday night, and the Pistons reached the Eastern Conference finals for the fourth consecutive year with a 95-84 victory that eliminated the New York Knicks in five games.
"Detroit's bench just wears you down over a series," said Stu Jackson, New York's coach. "I don't know of a bigger, more physical bench than Detroit. They just really kept us off-balance the entire night."
The Pistons, bidding to become only the third franchise in history to repeat as NBA champions, trail only the Los Angeles Lakers' eight-year stretch (1982-89) in conference finals and Boston's two five-year runs (1972-76 and 1984-88). Philadelphia was in the Eastern Conference final from 1980-83.
Detroit, which swept four regular-season games from New York, will meet the winner of the series between Chicago and Philadelphia. The Bulls lead 3-1 going into tonight's game.
Over the past two seasons, Detroit has held playoff opponents to fewer than 100 points in 22 of 25 games.
"That's one of our strengths, wearing people down," Detroit's Bill Laimbeer said. "We come at them in waves."
The Pistons' reserves outscored the Knicks' reserves 164-104 for the series. Detroit had a 44-34 rebound advantage, including 18-4 by its reserves.
"It's amazing," said Maurice Cheeks, the Knicks' point guard. "They got guys that can come in and play well. They don't just have guys that come in for playing time. I mean, these guys come in and play significant roles."
Patrick Ewing, playing all but 1:59 of the game, led the Knicks with 22 points, but he missed his last eight shots and made only one of 10 in the second half. Gerald Wilkins scored 18 points for New York.
"Patrick got tired," Laimbeer said. "He had to carry the load for all this time. It took a toll."
The Knicks, who led by 14 points early, were ahead 28-20 after one quarter. Then Aguirre, who watched the entire first quarter from the bench, took charge.
"We were struggling offensively," Aguirre said. "We were having a tough time. Everybody was cold.
"But that's the strength of this team, that any guy can get it going at any time. We don't care who is playing. I hit my second shot and I knew I had the touch."
Aguirre, who made eight of 10 shots for 17 second-quarter points, gave the Pistons a 47-45 lead - their first advantage since early in the game - on a 3-pointer with 1:00 left in the first half.
Aguirre then made a short jumper at the buzzer to give the Pistons a 51-49 halftime lead.
"He really got us back into the game and got us back the lead," said Chuck Daly, Detroit's coach. "He picked up three fouls and I questioned myself about leaving him in, which I usually don't. But he had such a good roll going that I decided to ride [with] him."
The Pistons began the fourth quarter leading 69-63, but a three-point play by Johnny Newman and a basket by Wilkins cut it to 71-68 at the 10:43 mark.
Vinnie Johnson sank two baskets and Aguirre one to put Detroit ahead by nine with 8:33 left. The Pistons led comfortably the rest of the way, increasing their lead to 13 with 6:29 remaining.
"They answered right back like a championship team should," Jackson said. "I just can't say enough about them. But I'd say from our team's perspective, we did a few more things than a lot of people thought we would."
The Knicks became only the fourth team in NBA history to overcome an 0-2 deficit and win a five-game series when they turned the tables on the Boston Celtics in the first round.
Then, down 0-2 to the Pistons, they snapped Detroit's playoff winning streak at 12 games with a convincing 111-103 victory in the third game at Madison Square Garden.
But some of the Pistons said they felt the Knicks paid a dear price for that win.
"They played so hard in Game 3 and that seemed to cost them in Game 4," Aguirre said. "I think maybe it wore them out."
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by CNB