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Wednesday, Dec. 6 10:00pm ET
Stackhouse's 41 points overpower Sonics

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

SEATTLE (AP) -- Nate McMillan isn't a miracle worker after all.

Jerry Stackhouse, the NBA's No. 3 scorer, had 41 points as the Detroit Pistons beat the Seattle SuperSonics for the second time this season, 112-99 on Wednesday night.

"The energy and the effort have to be there," said McMillan, who became the interim head coach of the Sonics nine days ago when he replaced the fired Paul Westphal. "The focus has to be there."

Under McMillan, the Sonics won at Portland and beat the Los Angeles Lakers by 33 points at home last week. They didn't look like the same team against the Pistons.

Stackhouse, limited to 11 points in a loss in Vancouver on Tuesday night, was 12-for-28 from the field to lead the Pistons past Seattle for the second time in less than a month. He scored 38 points in the Pistons' 101-92 win over Seattle in Detroit on Nov. 12.

"We're not taking pride in defending one-on-one defensively," said McMillan, whose team surrendered an NBA season-high 51 points to Antawn Jamison in a win over Golden State Sunday night.

Gary Payton, who led the Sonics with 29 points, was one of the defenders who failed to stop Stackhouse.

The Sonics are 3-2 under McMillan.

"Tonight, we took a giant step backward," the Sonics' Patrick Ewing said. "In my mind, we took away a lot of what we accomplished last week."

Stackhouse came into the game averaging 27.4 points, third in the league behind Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors.

The 6-foot-6 guard from North Carolina was at his best when the Pistons needed it the most. He scored six of his points in the final three minutes.

Stackhouse was the focus of the defense, but the Sonics couldn't slow him down.

He credited his teammates with getting him the ball when he was open.

"I trusted the guys all night," he said.

Dana Barros, Stackhouse's teammate, said the Pistons' offensive star was being modest.

"Jerry carried us the whole game," Barros said. "He must have been tired with all the double teams."

Stackhouse said the Pistons knew they would have to outwork the Sonics.

"They've been playing well," he said. "But we surpassed their energy."

After Ruben Patterson's three-point play cut Detroit's lead to 99-97 with 3:10 to go, Barros responded with a 3-pointer with 2:28 remaining. Stackhouse followed with a pair of free throws and added a fastbreak layup with 1:50 left that put Detroit ahead 106-97.

Stackhouse sank two free throws with 24.3 seconds left.

Barros scored 17 points in a reserve role and Chucky Atkins, Detroit's point guard, had 14 points. Ben Wallace pulled down 17 rebounds for the Pistons.

For Seattle, Rashard Lewis had 15 points.

Detroit coach George Irvine had his own game plan.

"We wanted to make it a track meet for two reasons," Irvine said. "To get Jerry in the open court and also to give him more time when they came over to double- and triple-team him."

The Pistons took a 77-72 lead on a 15-footer by Atkins with 2:58 left in the third quarter and led 80-74 after a 3-pointer by Jud Buechler from the corner. Stackhouse's 20-footer with 1:09 left in the period put Detroit ahead 82-79.

Stackhouse scored 16 of his 25 points in the first half as the Pistons took a 23-12 lead. His two free throws in the final second of the first half gave Detroit a 58-57 advantage.

Seattle trailed by as many as 13 points in the first quarter. The Sonics took the lead for the first time on a layup by rookie Desmond Mason with 1:55 gone in the second quarter.

Game notes
Payton and rookie Mateen Cleaves of Detroit were called for technical fouls for taunting each other with 2:39 to go in the first quarter. ... Vin Baker returned for the Sonics after missing two games because of a sore right knee. Baker played 19 minutes and scored 12 points. ... The Pistons outrebounded the Sonics 44-36. ... The Sonics play the Lakers in Los Angeles Friday night. "Kobe Bryant (of the Lakers) must be licking his chops after seeing what Jamison and Stackhouse got against us the last two games," Seattle's Brent Barry said.


ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard

Detroit Clubhouse

Seattle Clubhouse

FROM
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Jerry Stackhouse Official Site

RECAPS
LA Clippers 93
Washington 88

Charlotte 91
Indiana 88

Miami 95
Denver 78

Milwaukee 109
New Jersey 87

Cleveland 92
Chicago 88

Dallas 94
New York 85

Portland 95
Toronto 88

Detroit 112
Seattle 99

Golden State 125
LA Lakers 122


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