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Saturday, Mar. 11 7:30pm ET
Portland had dropped four of five games | |||||
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 GAME FLOW
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- Portland needed to go down to the closing seconds to end a season-worst slump. Rasheed Wallace scored seven of his 24 points in the final 4:32 as the Trail Blazers ended a three-game losing streak with a 99-94 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night.
The Pistons' loss came on the night they were celebrating the 10th anniversary of their 1990 NBA championship -- won at the expense of Portland. Grant Hill scored 30 and Jerry Stackhouse 22 for Detroit. But with Detroit traling 95-94 and 11 seconds left, Hill missed a layup, and Portland got two free throws each from Detlef Schrempf and Scottie Pippen (18 points) to account for the final score. "We really wanted this one," Portland coach Mike Dunleavy said. "Losing streaks are like a gorilla on your back as the losses start to mount up." Portland had dropped four of five games to slip four games behind the Los Angeles Lakers in the Pacific Division. "We were getting a little concerned," Pippen said. "You don't want to lose a bunch in a row after we were challenging the Lakers for the best record in the league. It got a little frustrating, because we want to keep the heat on them." The loss was the first for Pistons interim head coach George Irvine, who started 2-0 after replacing Alvin Gentry on Monday. "We had an opportunity to win against a very, very good team," Irvine said. "But we aren't looking at this as a moral victory. Not this late in the season." The Pistons trailed 44-43 at the half even though just four Detroit players scored in the first 24 minutes. Detroit's reserves failed to score in a combined 45 minutes, and starting center Terry Mills also was shut out. Mikki Moore finally got the Pistons' reserves going with seven points late in the third. Five of them came in a 7-0 run that helped them take a 68-64 lead at the end of the period. Portland quickly narrowed the gap to 70-69, but didn't go ahead until Schrempf's 3-pointer made it 81-79 with 5:35 to go. The teams traded the lead until Pippen's 3-pointer and two free throws by Wallace gave Portland a 92-88 edge with 1:49 left. Wallace missed his first free throw, but got a second chance after a lane violation call on Hill. "I didn't understand it," Hill said. "I just kind of put my hands up and after the shot, I walked in and they called a lane violation." Stackhouse was fouled on a 3-point attempt, and hit all three free throws to make it 92-91. A free throw by Wallace gave Portland a two-point lead, but Hill turned the ball over and Pippen turned it into a layup. After a 3-pointer by Stackhouse made it a one-point game again, Wallace missed, giving the Pistons a chance to go ahead. That's when Hill's layup attempt missed. "I thought we did a really good job defensively down the stretch," Dunleavy said. "Our intensity was good."
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Portland Clubhouse Detroit Clubhouse RECAPS Atlanta 91 Vancouver 86
Portland 99
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