Thu May 29 00:13:10 2008

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Hamilton hurts elbow in Game 5 loss

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Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Richard Hamilton strained his right elbow in the closing seconds of a 106-102 playoff loss to the Boston Celtics Wednesday night.

Hamilton scored 25 points in the game, but the Pistons fell behind 3-2 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals.

Boston's Kevin Garnett missed a jumper from the right side with 16 seconds left, and Hamilton seemed to hurt his elbow after being tangled with Boston's Ray Allen near the basket. The Pistons came up with the ball, and while Detroit's Rodney Stuckey was fouled with 8.2 seconds left, Hamilton remained in the backcourt holding his right arm before going to the bench.

Stuckey made both foul shots to get the Pistons within 102-101, but Detroit could never get over the hump despite nearly rallying from a 15-point deficit in the last quarter.

It's too early to detect if the injury will prevent Hamilton from playing in Game 6 Friday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

"It's sore right now," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said of Hamilton's elbow. "We're going to have to wait and see how it is tomorrow, wait and see how it is in 48 hours. He was great again tonight. Hopefully he's going to be ready to go for us."