Pistons Are Back in Hunt

The Detroit Pistons proved all season that they could win without Jerry Stackhouse carrying the scoring load. They did it again Thursday night when it really counted.

Stackhouse had only five points, but his first field goal after an 0-for-8 start put Detroit ahead to stay with 1:43 left as the Pistons eliminated the Toronto Raptors, 85-82, in the deciding Game 5 of their first-round series.

The Pistons are in the second round of the NBA playoffs for the first time since 1991 and the first time in Stackhouse’s career.

“Everyone outside this room said all the weight was on me, but that’s not how this team works,” said Stackhouse, who finished one for 10 from the field and three for five at the line. “Our veteran guys, like Cliff [Robinson], Corliss [Williamson] and Jon Barry stepped up and won the game for us.”

The Raptors had a chance to become only the seventh team to overcome a 2-0 deficit to win a best-of-five series.

But they made only one basket in the final two minutes, and Chris Childs forced up a bad shot with seven seconds left on Toronto’s final possession.

Detroit will play the winner of the Boston-Philadelphia series, with Game 1 set for Sunday.

“I knew Stack was going to hit a big shot,” Detroit Coach Rick Carlisle said. “I just felt it in my heart.”

Stackhouse, Detroit’s leading scorer, didn’t score at all until making a free throw with 9:38 left in the third quarter.

Williamson, the NBA’s sixth man of the year, scored a career-playoff high 23 points.

Del Curry led the Raptors with 17 points, 14 of them coming in the final quarter.