Pistons face elimination

LOS ANGELES: The Lakers are not in quite as much peril, the Trail Blazers are not going to get swept, the Suns are not going away easily.

Those were the storylines that emerged in the Western Conference on a busy day of playoff basketball on Sunday, and things have gotten interesting in the East, too. Top-seeded Detroit are  one loss away from elimination, while third-seeded Indiana are in danger of losing their series, too.

Now nine days into the post-season, the playoff picture is an interesting one all around. The latest developments:
 - The three-time defending champions, Lakers, got a huge game from Shaquille O’Neal and benefited from two late missed free throws by Kevin Garnett to beat Minnesota 102-97, tying the series 2-2.
- The banged-up Trail Blazers avoided matching the longest post-season losing streak in NBA history — 11 matches — by defeating Dallas 98-79 to avoid a 4-0 sweep.
- The no-quit Suns rallied from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter and beat San Antonio 86-84 on Jake Voskuhl’s jump hook over Tim Duncan with 2.3 seconds left. The series is tied 2-2.
- The Orlando Magic kept finding ways to shut down Detroit’s offence, the latest installment a 100-92 victory. Tracy McGrady’s team leads the series 3-1.
- Paul Pierce had an utterly unstoppable third quarter, scoring 21 in the period as Boston rallied past Indiana 102-92.

There were a pair of Game 4s last night — Philadelphia, up 2-1, playing at New Orleans; and Sacramento, leading 2-1, visiting Utah. After that, things will get even more exciting with four Game 5s scheduled for today and four more tomorrow.