San Antonio Spurs forward
Tim Duncan (top right) battles Detroit Pistons forwards Antonio
McDyess (bottom) and Rasheed Wallace for a rebound during the
second quarter of their NBA game in San Antonio on Thursday.(Photo:
Shanghai Daily)
The Detroit Pistons scored an impressive 90-80 road
victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday with Rasheed Wallace
leading the Eastern Conference contenders with 23 points and 15
rebounds.
The Pistons emerged the stronger from the match-up between two
teams who could meet in the NBA finals as Detroit ended a two-game
losing streak and improved their record to 27-9, the second-best
mark in the league.
"I think there was no question that we were going to come out
tonight with great focus and play well, as it came to be a physical
game in the second half," Detroit coach Flip Saunders told
reporters.
The Spurs lost their second straight game and fell to 23-11,
17-3 at home.
The Pistons, in the second game of a four-game road trip over
five nights, fashioned a 22-2 explosion in the first half. They led
by 15 points after the first quarter and were never really
threatened.
"It's usually tough to play against a great team like San
Antonio and get up in points like that and maintain that, because
you then have to withstand runs, especially while playing on their
home court," Saunders added.
Richard Hamilton scored 18 points and Tayshaun Prince 17 for the
Pistons, who still have to go to Charlotte and New York on this
trip.
"Perseverance. I guess that is the word," Wallace said. "We are
a veteran team and we showed that tonight in the way we erased a
blowout last night, and that's a good thing.
"We could lose five or six in a row and it wouldn't matter.
Nobody is going to hang their heads and mope around."
Tim Duncan scored 24 points and hauled down 15 rebounds for the
Spurs. Tony Parker scored 12 points but shot just 4-for-13 from the
field.
"The Pistons didn't play well last night (Wednesday) against
Dallas and good teams always come back," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich
said.
"Detroit had good focus, good energy and they want to play well
and they did."?
The Spurs got as close as eight points late in the game but lost
on a night that saw them turn the ball over 15 times.
In Sacramento, California, John Salmons had 28 points, 11
rebounds and seven assists to help Sacramento rally late in the
fourth quarter for a 116-113 victory over Memphis.
Down by 10 points midway through the fourth quarter, the Kings
got back in the game with a 10-2 run and pulled ahead behind the
clutch play of Salmons, Francisco Garcia and Brad Miller, who had
22 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
Rudy Gay scored 31 points for Memphis, which lost its second
straight and has dropped 18 consecutive games in Sacramento. Pau
Gasol had 19 points, Mike Miller made four 3-pointers and scored
18, Michael Conley had 15 and Juan Carlos Navarro had 10 points and
six assists.
In Salt Lake City, Mehmet Okur scored 22 points and pulled down
17 rebounds, and Utah routed a tired and short-handed Phoenix
108-86.
Deron Williams added 17 points and 11 assists and Ronnie Brewer
tied his career high with 21 points for the Jazz, who had an
advantage from the start with three Suns starters unavailable.
Two-time league MVP Steve Nash was home with the flu, Grant Hill
was recovering from an appendectomy the day before and Shawn Marion
sat behind the bench with a bruised elbow. The Suns had also played
an overtime game the night before and were overwhelmed by the Jazz
in the second half.
Utah outscored Phoenix 28-12 in the third quarter, holding the
Suns to just five field goals and closing the period with seven
straight points.
Carlos Boozer added 18 points for the Jazz, but had just one
rebound as Okur dominated the lane and missed his career high by
one rebound.
(Shanghai Daily/Agencies January 12, 2008)
