There is a reason the Detroit Pistons have been to five consecutive Eastern Conference finals. They proved it yesterday, even without their All-Star point guard to hold things together in front of a hostile crowd at Amway Arena in Orlando, Fla.

Richard Hamilton scored 32 points and Hedo Turkoglu missed a layup with time running out as the Pistons beat the Orlando Magic, 90-89. to take a 3-1 lead in this Eastern Conference, best-of-seven semifinal series. The Pistons became the first team to win on the road in the second round this postseason, and can clinch their sixth consecutive conference final appearance when this series returns to Detroit Tuesday.

All of it happened with Chauncey Billups watching in a sport coat on the bench after his hamstring was strained in Game 3.

"We just played 'D' -- that's what we do," said Rasheed Wallace, who had 16 points and eight rebounds. "It was a physical game on both sides of the ball. That is our style; we like being physical. We just wish we could do that more often."

Tayshaun Prince scored 17 for Detroit, including an 11-foot runner for the go-ahead basket with 8.9 seconds left. Antonio McDyess added eight points and 14 rebounds. The Pistons controlled the tempo in the second half after falling behind by 15 in the third, deflated the Magic transition game that gassed up its Game 3 win and pounded Dwight Howard in the paint.

Still, Orlando had a chance late in the game -- actually a few of them. Down by a point out of the timeout after Prince's basket, Turkoglu held the ball at the top of the key as time wound down, then missed a contested layup in the lane. Howard's follow also was no good, and neither player drew the foul they wanted. Jameer Nelson also missed one of two free throws with 44 seconds left, which would have tied the score.

"From a coaching standpoint, we've had three end-of-the-game possessions in this series. And we haven't gotten a very good shot on any possession," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "So you've got to lay that on me."

"I was reading the situation," Turkoglu said of the final sequence. "I didn't want to rush and force a bad shot. Maybe I was holding it too long instead of going right away. I'm just upset that I couldn't help the team."

Turkoglu scored 20 and three players added 15 points -- Rashard Lewis, Maurice Evans and Nelson.

Other game

• Cavaliers 108, Celtics 84: LeBron James scored 21 points on another off-shooting game, but Delonte West scored 21, Joe Smith had 17 and host Cleveland raced to a large, early lead in Game 3 against road-challenged Boston to pull within 2-1 in this Eastern Conference playoff series. West, who spent three seasons wearing Celtics green and white, carried the scoring load for the Cavaliers, who are attempting to become the 14th team in NBA history to come back from an 0-2 deficit and win a best-of-seven series.