AUBURN HILLS, MICH. ? The Detroit Pistons proved all season that they could win without Jerry Stackhouse carrying the scoring load. They did it again Thursday night, right when it really counted.

Stackhouse had only five points, but his first field goal after an 0-for-8 start put Detroit ahead to stay with 1:43 left as the Pistons eliminated Toronto 85-82 in Game 5.

Detroit advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1991, and Stackhouse advanced for the first time in his seven-year career.

“Everyone outside this room said all the weight was on me, but that’s not how this team works,” said Stackhouse, who was 1-for-10 from the field and 3-for-5 at the line. “Our veteran guys, like Cliff (Robinson), Corliss (Williamson) and Jon Barry stepped up and won the game for us.”

The Raptors had a chance to become just the seventh team to overcome a 2-0 deficit and win a best-of-five series. But they made only one basket in the final 21/2 minutes, and Chris Childs forced a terrible shot on Toronto’s final possession.

Detroit will play the winner of the Boston-Philadelphia series, with Game 1 set for Sunday.

Stackhouse’s shot from just inside the free throw line put Detroit ahead 81-79.

“I knew Stack was going to hit a big shot,” Detroit coach Rick Carlisle said. “I just felt it in my heart.”

Stackhouse, Detroit’s leading scorer, didn’t score at all until making a free throw with 9:38 left in the third quarter.

Williamson scored a career playoff-high 23 points, and his basket on an inbounds play with 26.8 seconds left, with the shot clock about to expire, put the Pistons ahead 83-79.

The NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year was traded to Toronto for Jerome Williams during the 2000-01 season.

“To be honest, it was kind of personal, but I don’t want to get into that,” Williamson said. “It’s a team game.”

Toronto’s Dell Curry made a three-pointer with 11.1 seconds left to pull the Raptors to 84-82. Stackhouse made a free throw, and Childs raced upcourt and launched a running three-pointer while being closely guarded by Chucky Atkins with seven seconds left. The shot bounced hard off the backboard, and the Raptors were so stunned by it that they didn’t even bother to foul and stop the clock.

The crowd erupted with a level of applause that hadn’t been experience at The Palace since the Bad Boys era, when Detroit won NBA titles in 1989 and 1990.

“It’s just an unbelievable feeling, and it’s something that hasn’t been done here in a long time,” Stackhouse said. “It’s huge relief.”