Chauncy Billips scored 22 points as the Detroit Pistons posted an 87-75 upset victory over the host Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the National Basketball Association finals Sunday night.
The heavily favored Lakers got huge games from their two main stars -- Shaquille O'Neal who had 34 points and Kobe Bryant who had 25. But Los Angeles got little support from the rest of the team -- including future Hall of Famers Karl Malone and Gary Payton, who scored only four and three points respectively.
The Lakers ended a closely contested first half with a narrow 41-40 lead. But the Pistons and their highly rated defense held the Lakers to only 34 points in the second half.
Game 2 of the best of seven series is Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
Some information for this report provided by Reuters.