A dunk by Elden Campbell early in the fourth quarter pushed the lead to 18 for the Pistons. It eventually led to a 88-68 victory Thursday night over the Los Angeles Lakers and a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals.

``I wouldn't say it buried them, but that was a big play at the time,'' said Campbell, adding it was his first breakaway dunk since he played in Charlotte more than two years ago.

No Eastern Conference team has won a title since 1998, but these Pistons are showing it may be a distinct possibility.

``I'm shocked,'' Pistons coach Larry Brown said, ``but I'm really proud of the way we played.''

The 68 points scored by Los Angelas is franchise playoff low.

``Well, I don't think we can defend better than we did tonight,'' Brown said. ``Hey, we held them to 68 points shooting 40 percent. For us that's an incredible accomplishment.''