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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- Pat Riley got his point across. So
did the Detroit Pistons.
"This is deplorable," the Miami coach said after the Heat's
90-73 loss to Detroit on Wednesday night. Miami was coming off a
96-80 loss on Monday night in Philadelphia.
|  | | The Pistons' Jerry Stackhouse drives to the basket. drawing the foul on Miami center Alonzo Mourning. |
"This team should be docked two games pay for the lack of
effort when it counts. They just quit tonight, and I am not going
to watch a team just quit. I'll go with rookies the rest of the
year. I don't care how veteran or smart they are supposed to be."
Jerry Stackhouse had 29 points for Detroit, currently seeded to
play Miami in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
"This wasn't for them, it was for us," Stackhouse said. "This
gives us some confidence that we can beat a top-level team when we
play defense like this.
"A lot of things have to happen before we would play them in
the first round, but now we know that if we do match up with them,
we can do some damage."
Detroit had season-bests in points allowed and field-goal
percentage allowed (33.3 percent), never letting the Heat score
more than 23 points in a quarter.
"We only shot 39 percent, but we were able to win the game with
our energy on defense," Pistons coach George Irvine said. "That's
a really good sign, especially against a team like that. I was
thrilled with our play in every aspect of defense."
The Pistons, seventh in the Eastern Conference standings, lead
eighth-place Orlando and Milwaukee by two games with four to play.
Atlantic Division leader Miami was without Tim Hardaway, who sat
out the game because of a foot injury. The Heat dropped to 16-11
this season when Hardaway doesn't play. They are 34-17 with him.
Lindsey Hunter added 17 points and Grant Hill 12 for Detroit,
and reserve Jerome Williams had 15 rebounds.
Jamal Mashburn led Miami with 22 points, and Alonzo Mourning had
16 points and 10 rebounds, but it wasn't nearly enough.
"It was a lack of effort," Mourning said. "It didn't have
anything to do with Tim's injury. They outplayed us, and we played
soft. Everyone saw it."
The Pistons had an 18-point lead at 43-25 in the second quarter,
but Mourning's two dunks helped Miami get within nine at 45-36.
But Lindsey Hunter hit a pair of 3-pointers to help the Pistons
take a 53-38 lead at intermission.
Stackhouse had 20 in the half, breaking out of a scoring slump
that had seen him score just 24 points in the last two games.
"I just did the only thing I knew how to do, shoot my way out
of it," Stackhouse said. "I knew I hadn't been taking bad shots,
they were just not going on. So it was nice to get it going again
today."
Stackhouse had his other nine points in the third quarter as the
Pistons pushed their lead to 77-60.
"We are in a situation where we virtually control our own
destiny, and we've virtually gotten blown out two games in a row,"
Miami's Dan Majerle said. "We're still in first place, but if we
keep playing like this, we're not going to do anything."
Game notes
Detroit's victory was just its fifth in 16 games against
the Heat. ... The teams combined to hit five 3-pointers in
succession in the third quarter. Mashburn hit three in a row for
the Heat, and Stackhouse and Hunter connected for Detroit. ...
Former Pistons player Otis Thorpe was called for a flagrant foul in
the fourth quarter for slamming Christian Laettner to the floor.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Miami Clubhouse
Detroit Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 95
Orlando 91
Philadelphia 93
Washington 84
Charlotte 119
Atlanta 87
Milwaukee 101
Cleveland 100
Detroit 90
Miami 73
New York 91
New Jersey 89
Indiana 77
Toronto 73
Utah 102
LA Clippers 93
Phoenix 122
Vancouver 116
Seattle 110
Minnesota 83
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Pat Riley sounds off about his slumping team.
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