Hamilton, Pistons spank Sixers, advance to Eastern Conference semis

Hamilton scored 13 of his 24 points in the decisive opening quarter, and the visiting Pistons pounded the Philadelphia 76ers 100-77 on Thursday night, to wrap up their first-round best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series, four games to two.

 "We come into these games treating them like it's a game seven, that's how you have to come at it," Hamilton said. "When you get a chance to put a team away, you have to do it. Since I've been here that's something we've been good at."

   Chauncey Billups added 20 points while Tayshaun Prince chipped in with 12 for the Pistons, who shot a sizzling 58 per cent from the field (39-of-67) and converted 11 turnovers into 22 points in the wire-to-wire wipeout.

 "We wanted to win this game, we didn't want to give Philly another opportunity," Prince said. "They're a young, up-and-coming team and we wanted to put them away early, because we didn't want to go home for a game seven."

   The second-seeded Pistons will receive little rest as they host the third-seeded Orlando Magic - who eliminated the Toronto Raptors in five games - beginning Saturday night in the conference opener.

 The teams split the four-game regular-season series.

 "People say you want to get as much rest as possible, but we're in a great rhythm, Prince said. "The way we're moving the ball and playing defensively, it should be a good thing that we're getting right back out there."

   Andre Igoudala scored 16 points while Andre Miller and Louis Williams added 11 apiece for the Sixers, who connected on an icy 34 per cent (25-of-74) from the field.

 "I'm proud of my team to be able to play against Detroit, the way we battled through out the series, certainly not tonight," Sixers head coach Maurice Cheeks said. "It's unfortunate it ended the way that it did because we accomplished a lot."

   The Sixers were a long shot to make the playoffs, but they grabbed the seventh seed and led 2-1, before the battle-tested Pistons dominated the final two games.

 "They don't have a lot of individual players, but they have five guys who contribute on both ends of the court and they work well together as one," Igoudala said. "Tonight, they were just clicking on all cylinders."

   Looking to send the Sixers on vacation, Pistons came out focused, energized and with a sense of urgency, in front of a hostile sellout crowd of 14,130 fans at the Wachovia Centre.

 Hamilton scored 13 points in the opening quarter - one more than the entire Sixers' team - as the Pistons raced to a 30-12 and never looked back.

 "We wanted to come out, especially in a close-out game at their place, take them out early and we were aggressive from the start," Billups said.

 "Rip got it going early in the game, we kept feeding off him and our defence was great. We were everywhere and we rebounded well too."

   Billups scored the final seven points before halftime and the Pistons carried a commanding 51-33 cushion into the locker room.

 The assault continued as the gap widened to 78-51 after three, and grew to 92-30 in the final quarter in the blowout.

 "They took advantage of situations when they were there and of course they made every shot," Cheeks concluded. "It was a long night."