|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME FLOW
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The Milwaukee Bucks are winning
without playing their best basketball.
Milwaukee was outshot and outrebounded by Detroit on Sunday, but
the Bucks beat the Pistons 102-98 and stretched their winning
streak to seven games.
|  | | Detroit's Joe Smith, left, gets pushed in the face by Milwaukee's Scott Williams as the Bucks won their seventh in a row. |
"I don't know why we win when we don't play good," Milwaukee
coach George Karl. "We didn't tonight, and we beat a team that
played awfully hard. We just do what we needed to do."
Detroit lost its sixth consecutive home game, matching a six-game
skid in the 1994-95 season, just four short of the team record.
Detroit played without Jerry Stackhouse, the league's leading
scorer, who missed the game with the flu.
"Things are not going our way," Mikki Moore said. "We got
down to the last few minutes neck-and-neck, and then we made some
mistakes and gave the game away."
Glenn Robinson led the Bucks with 26 points and Sam Cassell
added 20, while Ray Allen added 17 and reserve Tim Thomas had 14.
"We want to be a winning team, and this is what winning teams
do," Cassell said. "This wasn't our best game, but we got a
win."
Dana Barros led Detroit with a season-high 22, while Chucky
Atkins, playing in place of Stackhouse, added 19 and Joe Smith had
15 points and 12 rebounds.
"Jerry's our mainstay, so we knew that we needed to step up
tonight," Barros said. "My role changes every night, and tonight
I knew I needed to score. We scrapped and scrapped, but the small
things like free throws and rebounds beat us."
The Pistons scored the game's first nine points and shot 58
percent in the first half, but led by just one point, 50-49, at
halftime. Milwaukee, which shot 40 percent in the first half, had
nine offensive rebounds in the first two periods.
Milwaukee took its first lead early in the third, and built its
advantage to seven, 76-69, late in the period.
But Atkins hit a 3-pointer as time expired in the third and
Detroit closed to 76-74.
Lindsey Hunter started the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer
against his former team, but the Pistons scored the next 10 points
for an 84-79 lead with 8:14 left. Barros had five in the run.
Milwaukee countered with a quick 8-0 run, including six by
Robinson, to regain the lead.
The Pistons tied the game on Barros' 3-pointer with 4:26 to go,
but let the Bucks grab two offensive rebounds before Cassell hit a
jumper.
Smith missed two free throws, and Allen's 3-pointer made it
94-89 with 3:15 left.
"When we play a team like the Bucks, we know we have to play
really hard and play at a very high level," Pistons coach George
Irvine said. "We did a terrific job of competing, but we missed
some key free throws and we missed a couple big defensive
rebounds."
Detroit trailed 96-93 in the final minute, but Atkins missed a
potential game-tying 3-pointer, and Thomas scored at the other end.
Michael Curry hit a 3-pointer to make it 98-96 with eight seconds
left, but Allen sealed the victory with two free throws.
"We're beating the teams that we are supposed to beat,"
Robinson said. "That's the key."
|
|
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Milwaukee Clubhouse
Detroit Clubhouse
RECAPS
Indiana 87
New York 74
Washington 94
Atlanta 90
Toronto 110
Philadelphia 106
Utah 109
Phoenix 98
Minnesota 96
Vancouver 94
Miami 103
LA Lakers 92
Milwaukee 102
Detroit 98
Golden State 94
Boston 91
Seattle 109
Sacramento 107
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Jerry Stackhouse Official Site
George Karl Official Site
|
