NBA PLAYOFFS : Pistons Take 3-0 Lead as Another Buck Falls

What’s left of the outmanned Milwaukee Bucks was not nearly enough, especially against a team like the Detroit Pistons.

The Pistons went into a third-quarter overdrive Sunday and used the hot shooting of Isiah Thomas to take a 110-90 victory and a 3-0 lead in their National Basketball Assn. Eastern Conference semifinal series.

With Terry Cummings limping on a sore ankle, Paul Pressey and Paul Mokeski in street clothes, the one thing the Bucks couldn’t afford was another injury.

But 25 seconds into the game, forward Larry Krystkowiak went crashing to the floor with ligament damage in his left knee and Milwaukee was suddenly a nine-man basketball team.

“You always hate to see somebody go down,” said Thomas, who scored 26 points, including 15 in the third quarter. “But that’s basketball. With Krystkowiak gone, it will really hurt them.”

It hurt the Bucks. But so did the Pistons, shooting 52% and taking a 50-43 rebounding edge. Detroit can wrap up the best-of-seven series in Milwaukee tonight. A fifth game, if necessary, will be played in Detroit on Wednesday night.

“We’re confident about (tonight), but we’ve always been pretty confident,” said Thomas, who made 11 of 19 shots. “The long layoff before this series hurt us offensively. But this afternoon our offense and defense were both solid.”

The Bucks couldn’t keep up, especially in the second half. They finished by shooting only 43% from the field.

“Larry’s injury was shocking,” said Milwaukee Coach Del Harris, who insisted that Krystkowiak was shoved by Piston center Bill Laimbeer. TV replays showed that Krystkowiak’s knee went out as he was trying to jump for a dunk with Laimbeer behind him. The television replay showed no evidence of a shove.

Krystkowiak will undergo surgery today.

Laimbeer said he made no contact with Krystkowiak, but Harris, who rushed onto the floor and picked up a technical foul while screaming at Laimbeer, wasn’t buying it.

“A shove in the small of the back and the knee’s gone. For Laimbeer, it’s just another shove in a series of one million shoves over a course of a year. For Krysto, it’s a career-threatening injury,” Harris said.

Said Laimbeer: “That’s the story of my career. I just happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. I was nowhere near being involved in the play. But the fans in the stands see a foul called on me and their guy lying on the floor and they got to think my reputation precedes me. They got to think I did something mean, nasty and ugly to the guy.”

Krystkowiak said he wasn’t blaming Laimbeer and didn’t know if he was shoved.

“All I remember is going in as strong as I could and feeling my knee as if it exploded,” Krystkowiak said.

Mark Aguirre added 15 points and John Salley had 14 for Detroit. Laimbeer scored 12.

The Pistons outscored Milwaukee, 38-25, in the third quarter to take a 22-point lead into the fourth period.

Thomas had 11 first-half points, including seven straight during an 11-2 run late in the second quarter that propelled the Pistons to a 47-38 halftime lead. Milwaukee shot only 38% in the first half and stayed close only because Ricky Pierce scored 14 points.

Detroit opened the second half with seven straight points to take a 54-38 lead. Milwaukee chopped it to 10 points with 5:29 left in the quarter, but Thomas hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to cap a 20-8 run and make it 85-63 going into the fourth period.

Pierce scored 22 points and Fred Roberts added 18 points for the Bucks.

The victory was the Pistons’ first in Milwaukee this year after three losses during the regular season.