Game 2 Report

FIRST QUARTER

DETROIT 16 LAKERS 18

Highlight reel: As Kobe Bryant dunks go, this one was tame. But his slam with 4:52 remaining was one of his few successful drives of the series.

Not in the box score: Detroit was much sharper in its early execution. The Pistons ran a set play, and Tayshaun Prince scored easily. The Lakers had trouble inbounding the ball, and Shaquille O’Neal passed the ball into the backcourt for a turnover.

Winning number: 4. The uniform number of Laker forward Luke Walton. After not playing in Game 1, Walton energized the Lakers in the final 3:30, initiating the offense with his ball movement, finishing off a fastbreak with a layup and assisting on Kareem Rush’s three-pointer with 8.2 seconds remaining to give the Lakers the lead at the break.

Wrong number: 6. The number of Laker turnovers. Bryant had three.

Leading scorers: Lakers -- O’Neal 5, Bryant and Karl Malone 4; Pistons -- Prince 5, Ben Wallace and Richard Hamilton 4.

Leading rebounders: Lakers -- O’Neal 4, Devean George, Malone and Bryant 2; Pistons -- Ben Wallace 4.

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SECOND QUARTER

DETROIT 36 LAKERS 44

Highlight reel: The play of Walton. Operating at seemingly a faster speed than anyone on the floor, he took a defensive rebound and dribbled the length of the court for a layup with 7:42 remaining. Equally impressive were the assists he gave O’Neal and Bryant later in the quarter.

Not in the box score: The sound of the Staples Center crowd chanting

Luuuuuukke. After assisting Bryant on a basket with 3:48 remaining, the volume of the chorus chanting his name was virtually equal to that cheering Kobe.

Winning number: 8. The number of Lakers assists, on 10 baskets. Walton had half that total.

Wrong number: 3. The number of turnovers by Hamilton, two on consecutive possessions followed by a technical foul when he protested an offensive foul in the final seconds of the half.

Leading scorers: Lakers -- Bryant 9 and O’Neal 7; Pistons -- Hamilton 8, Chauncey Billups 5.

Leading rebounders: Lakers -- Malone 4, Walton and Slava Medvedenko 3; Pistons -- Ben Wallace 4, three others with 2.

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THIRD QUARTER

DETROIT 66 LAKERS 68

Highlight reel: No great individual plays, but all systems were go for the Lakers early. The Lakers had assists on each of their first five baskets and maintained a 10-point lead with 5:30 remaining, before Billups had 12 points to close out the quarter and put the Pistons within two points.

Not in the box score: Not on the court, in fact. After an electrifying first half in which he had seven points and five assists, Walton didn’t play in the quarter. George, the starter, had seven points in playing the entire quarter and made all three of his field-goal attempts.

Winning number: 7. The number of Lakers assists, on 10 baskets.

Wrong numbers: 16 and 0. The amount of points scored by Billups (who made three of four field goals and all eight of his free throws) and Gary Payton, who was also shut out in the first quarter.

Leading scorers: Lakers -- O’Neal 8, George 7 and Bryant 6; Pistons -- Billups 16 and Rasheed Wallace 8.

Leading rebounders: Lakers -- Malone 2 and Payton 2; Pistons -- Rasheed Wallace 3, four others with 1.

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FOURTH QUARTER

DETROIT 89 LAKERS 89

Highlight reel: Bryant added another chapter to his book of late-game heroics with a shot that kept the Lakers’ championship dreams alive. Bryant sized up Hamilton and knocked down a three-point basket with 2.1 seconds remaining to tie the score.

Not in the box score: After Detroit took its first lead since early in the opening quarter, Laker Coach Phil Jackson turned to his young players off the bench, playing rookie forwards Brian Cook and Walton together with second-year swingman Rush while O’Neal, Malone and Gary Payton sat.

Winning number: 10. Points scored in the quarter by Bryant.

Wrong number: 6. Rebounds in the quarter by the Lakers. The Pistons pulled down 13, including seven on the offensive end.

Leading scorers: Lakers -- Bryant 10, Derek Fisher 6, O’Neal 3, Rush 2; Pistons -- Hamilton 8, Ben Wallace 6, Billups 4, Lindsey Hunter 3.

Leading rebounders: Lakers -- O’Neal 3, Rush 2; Pistons -- Ben Wallace 5, Tayshaun Prince 3, Rasheed Wallace and Hamilton 2.

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OVERTIME

LAKERS 99 DETROIT 91

Highlight reel: Walton gave the Lakers a lift in the first half, and then he helped clinch a victory with an assist to O’Neal that nearly brought Staples Center down. From the left baseline, Walton lofted a soft touch pass to O’Neal, who finished with a dunk for the final points of the game.

Not in the box score: How the Lakers took control of the overtime period behind Bryant, who scored two baskets and set up a third with an assist to O’Neal on basically the same move to the basket, driving to his right through the lane.

Winning number: 19. Combined points by Bryant and O’Neal, who scored all of the Lakers’ points after the Pistons took an 83-80 lead with 2:26 remaining in regulation.

Wrong number: 2. Points scored by the Pistons in the five-minute overtime as they made only one of nine shots after regulation.

Leading scorers: Lakers -- O’Neal 6, Bryant 4. Pistons -- Hamilton 2.

Leading rebounders: Lakers -- Walton and Fisher 2, Malone and Bryant 1; Pistons -- Prince 2, Hamilton 1.