Rookie Prince's play royal flushes 76ers

Without Chauncey Billups, someone for the Detroit Pistons would have to take the tough shots down the stretch.

It was not Richard Hamilton, but none other than rookie Tayshaun Prince.

The Philadelphia 76ers' superstar Allen Iverson missed two free throws with 15.1 seconds left, which kept their lead at only two.

Then followed the rookie Prince's huge circus spinner with 4.2 seconds left to tie the game, which would send it to overtime, making Iverson's missed free throws ultimately detrimental as the Pistons would blow away the Sixers in overtime and win 104-97.

The Pistons are now 9-0 this season in overtime, largely because of their depth and players like Tayshaun Prince coming up huge.

Prince had seven of his 20 points in the overtime including a 24 second shot clock beating three pointer that probably resulted in a another crack in the City of Philadelphia's Liberty Bell.

The rookie only played in 42 games and averaged 10.4 minutes a game during the regular season, making the way he has played in the playoffs even more amazing.

He was drafted 23rd out of Kentucky in the first round and has made a supersized impact since getting substantial minutes in the playoffs starting in Game 2 versus Orlando in the first round.

Fans have cried for Piston coach Rick Carlisle to give Prince more playing all season.

He was first inserted to help contain Tracy McGrady in the opening round, but only to give starting small forward Michael Curry a breather.

The Pistons' fans love to hate Curry because his lackluster offensive game doesn't always live up to his defensive effort.

Prince is like a true life Plastic Man the way he uses his long arms to his advantage.

He blocked an Aaron McKie jump shot in the first half, which might have disrupted McKie the whole game, since he only scored 12 points in the game.

McKie got most of his points when the Pistons' defense collapsed upon Iverson and he dished it off to him.

Carlisle was skeptical about playing rookies all season long.

Fellow rookie Mehmet Okur hardly got off the pine until Zeljko Rebraca went out with a heart ailment in December, and 2001 Piston lottery pick Rodney White was traded away to Denver before the season started, and deemed a bust by Pistons since he didn't the defensive ability that has helped the Pistons make it to the second round in the last two seasons.

Rip Hamilton had 23 points in the game, but missed two of four free throws in the final three minutes when he had been shooting 91% for the playoffs.

With Billups out, the big shots should've been take by him. Hamilton ran into many double teams or passed it off most of the time, including the one pass that went right to Iverson with 15.1 left as Hamilton wasn't paying attention to where his teammates were.

Iverson missed both ensuing free throws and the rest is history.

The Sixers do have some positive signs though.

They showed that they could score on the Pistons, and at times, at will.

A lot of their points came off penetration by Iverson resulting in easy lay-ups and open jump shots, most of which were made by Eric Snow, Kenny Thomas, and Derrick Coleman.

Snow played a courageous game on a very sore right foot.

They were down by 14 in the first half only to take the lead many of times in the second half.

The Sixers also moved their feet and played defense, which they didn't do much at all in losing the first game.

Coleman and Keith Van Horn both had big blocks on drives to the basket by Hamilton.

Van Horn, who played very klutzy in Game One hardly being able to catch the ball it seemed, made no huge mistakes in Game Two. He finished with nine points on three shots.

The scene shifts to the First Union Center in Philadelphia for the next two games.

The Pistons have only won one road game in the past two seasons.

Billups is day to day with his ankle that he hurt in Game One falling down on a Sixers' player's leg after a jump shot he took.

Chucky Atkins filled in for the Pistons at the point guard scoring 23 on 7-13 shooting, Prince also played the point at times. Piston reserve Jon Barry didn't even get off the bench to the start of the fourth quarter, but scored 11 energizing points, and fellow potent reserve Corliss Williamson played only six minutes.

The Pistons' depth will come into play once again in the future games if the Sixers fail to put the Pistons away with their many of opportunities.

Look for the Philadelphia to try and win the next game in the first half like Dallas did Thursday.