INDIANAPOLIS, March 26 (UPI) -- Corliss Williamson scored 23 points Tuesday night and touched off a melee by throwing the ball at Jermaine O'Neal as the Detroit Pistons overpowered the Indiana Pacers, 96-77, for their sixth win in seven games.
The surprising Pistons (42-28) have taken control of the Central Division with a team of mostly role players who hustle, rebound, play tough defense and are not afraid to mix it up a little bit.
Bursts by Detroit of 16-2 in the third quarter and 13-0 in the fourth quarter already had decided the outcome when Williamson drove the left baseline with 1:16 to go. As he went up for a layup, he was given a flying body block by O'Neal.
Williamson fired the ball at O'Neal from about five feet away, hitting him solidly before chaos ensued. Pistons forward Ben Wallace stepped between them and O'Neal shoved him. Wallace had to be restrained before O'Neal took a swing at Pistons forward Michael Curry.
Williamson and O'Neal both were ejected and O'Neal faces a possible suspension for his actions toward Curry. That is not good news for the Pacers (35-35), who are just 2 1/2 games ahead of Washington for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
