European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 07, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                As by Harry Atkins Auburn Hills Mich a with their Captain Isiah Thomas setting the tone the Detroit pistons finally played like champions sunday. Thomas taking charge irom the open ing tip had 26 Points and 11 assists As the pistons kept their Hopes alive for a third straight Aba title with a 113-si win Over the Atlanta i Laws. It took them five games to put the i Laws away. So what a it thought that was Isiah s Best game since he a been Back. Detroit coach Chuck Daly said. A tie distributed the Ball Well and was taking the Ball to the Basket and dishing off with authority. A a he a a student of drama lie knows just when to appear on Center stage. He a done it All. He a been m up. He a earned it  i Tonias asked  always seems to come up big in big games said he was basically Lucky. A i done to necessarily like being in games like this a Thomas said. A a in a rather we won -3-0, i just feel confident. Some people feel pressure. Some people Feci whatever they feel. I just fee confident., its a very comforting feeling. Its almost  Dominique Wilkins who was held to just 10 Points by the pistons Biu ism defense said Thomas was the difference in the game. A when he was out with that injury during the regular season it was obvious they were not the same team a said Wilkins who averaged 21.5 Points against Detroit during the season. A if he Hadnot missed All those games Hurt i guarantee you they a have a lot better record than they  \ Thomas missed 32 games with a broken right wrist that required surgery. The pistons went is-14 during his absence and finished the regular season 50-32. A a he Lias to not just be a Point guard a Detroit a Mark Aguirre said a we need him to shoot the Ball. When he shoots the Bali and goes to the Basket and look Lor , he opens up a whole smorgasbord for the rest of us. And that a. What he did  the pistons  become Only the third team in Aba history to win three consecutive championships will open the second round against the celtics in Boston on tuesday night. Thomas playing with a Nylon covering on the right wrist and a wrap on his pulled left hamstring scored 16 Points to help the pistons to a 59-42 halftime Lead. He scored 10 More in the third Quarter As the pistons continued to pour it Ona obviously we played Ijac champions a Daly said. A defensively up and Down the Detroit a Isiah Thomas Finger Rolls two of his 26 Points sunday Over John Battle. Lineup we were exquisite. They shot 30 percent from the Field and our defense had a lot to do with it.�?�. The pistons defense held Atlanta to 16 third Quarter Points and took a 90-58 Lead into the fourth Quarter. For the game Atlanta made Only 30 percent of its Field goal attempts. A in practice saturday we went Back to an old Drill four on four Quot Daly said. A we were making sure each Man was responsible for who he was guarding and then looking to help out and  other two three Peaters were the Minneapolis lakers 1952-54 and the Boston celtics 1959-66. By Alan Robinson the associated press Pittsburgh it Wasny to so much that Pittsburgh had a big advantage on its Home ice but that the penguins arc More at Home on their bigger ice surface than at Bostons Coz  Mario Lemieux using the larger civic Arena ice to out skate his Bruins shadows scored on a breakaway and set up another goal and the penguins throttled Boston s big guns for a 4-1 Victory sunday night in the Wales conference finals. The penguins rebounding from u potentially disastrous 5-4 overtime loss in game 2, sliced Bostons series Lead to 2-1 by blanking cant Neely Vladimir Ruzicka and Craig Janney who combined for six goals in the first two games. A we had to play desperate a said penguins defens Eman Ulf a Samuelsson who put Neely out of the game with a second period Cheek. A a we Haven t won anything yet. We re still behind and we can to attorn to lie cute about winning one  Lemieux constantly shadowed by Bob Sweeney and Dave Poulin in the first two games in Boston said Pittsburgh a bigger ice a is a big advantage to us because of the Speed we have. The stars and stripes May 7,1991magic s acts lift lakers by Ken Peters Inglewood Calif. A the Golden state warriors hoping to be the dream team of the Aba playoffs ran into some harsh reality in the shape of the los Angeles lakers in sunday night. The warriors coming off an upset Vic to by Ove r san an ton to in t he open i no round of the playoffs fell to the lakers 126-116 in the first game of their Best-of-7scries. A a. Magic Johnson at 6-foot-9 towering Over the smaller Golden state guards had 21 Points 17 assists and 10 rebounds to Lead the lakers. The underdog warriors chances were further diminished when Chris Mullin their Cading scorer was sidelined with a knee injury for the opener of the second round playoffs. A it was a difficult game for us a said Golden state coach Don Nelson whose team had eliminated the spurs in four games in their Bcst-of-5 matchup. A we did play decently occasionally. But we know to beat the lakers we have to play a great game for 48 minutes. A i know we can play better but Wyeth of see lakers on Page 22inside sports . Soccer team Blanks Uruguay a Page 22 Nelson win ends prices drought a Page 25 sundays major league baseball a Page 26 phils Dykstra Daulton Hurt in crash a Page 27 ins 4-1 Stanley cup playoffs we re a lot More confident Here in Pittsburgh. Its tougher to cover us  Kevin Stevens gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 Lead at 13 31 of a tight first period and Ron Francis made it 2-0 Early in the second period As Pittsburgh beat Boston at the Bruins own conservative mistake free hard checking game. Lemieux set up Grant Jennings first playoff goal to make it 3-1 in the second period then beat goal tender Andy Moog with a highlight film breakaway to give the penguins a three goal Lead at 13 11 of the period. Lemieux has three coals and two assists in the last two games. A it was important for us to come Back Here and get the Lead a Lemieux said. A we had to be aggressive and skate hard and to recheck  the penguins Felt they outplayed the Bruins in game Quot it Friday Only to lose on re Ziekas a overtime goal. This time they proved it on the scoreboard. The Bruins who took advantage of frequent Pittsburgh defensive lapses to score 11 goals in the two games at Boston managed Only two shots in the first 10 minutes and finished 0-for-4 on the Power play. Boston converted live of its 13 Mun advantage situations in Boston. Neely did no to play in the third period after sustaining a Charley horse during his run in with Samuelsson which had Boston coach Mike Milbury screaming and pounding a stick for a pen ally. Janney played sparingly because of dehydration and Poulin was ineffective because of a pulled Groin. Reggie Lemelin replaced Moog in the third period the first time Moog has left the ice in Bostons 16 playoff games this season. Game 4 will be tuesday night in the civic Arena where Boston is 0-2 this season but 26-1510 since Pittsburgh joined the nil in 1967