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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- The Detroit Pistons sure aren't used
to easy games like this.
Grant Hill scored 30 points and Jerry Stackhouse added 29 as the
Detroit Pistons routed the Golden State Warriors 131-99 on Friday
night.
"We aren't Portland or the Lakers, so we don't get many games like this," said Pistons coach Alvin Gentry. "I kept telling the guys in timeouts to keep their focus -- we didn't want to let them back into it."
The Warriors never did get in it. Detroit led by 14 points after
one quarter and never looked back in winning for just the second
time in six games.
"It's nice to get the win, but you can't read too much into
it," Stackhouse said. "We know that they are in a bit of disarray
right now, and we took advantage."
The Pistons set season highs for points and margin of victory.
Golden State had its worst loss of the year in its worst defensive
performance.
"That wasn't any fun for me to watch, and it wasn't any fun for
them to play," Warriors coach Garry St. Jean said. "When you get
off to a bad start, it is important to find your way back into the
game. We never did that."
Lindsey Hunter added 18 and Jerome Williams had 13 points and 12
rebounds for Detroit. Larry Hughes led the Warriors with 24.
Hill and Stackhouse dominated the first half, scoring 22 points
each.
Hill had 14 in the first quarter as Detroit took a 38-24 lead.
Stackhouse saved his best for the start of the second, burning
Hughes for 11 points in the first 2:55 of the period as Detroit
went up 55-34.
"He's just not strong enough right now," Stackhouse said. "I
hope that he'll gain more desire to play defense. He's a very good
offensive player, but that's a bad situation. It's a bad team and
it looks like a free-for-all."
The Warriors held the Milwaukee Bucks to just 33 second-half
points on Wednesday, and knew they would need another effort like
that to have any chance.
It didn't happen. The Pistons scored another 35 points in the
third quarter, including nine by Hunter, and took a 101-81 lead.
"Ever since I've been playing against them, that's been the way
they play," Hughes said. "They try to get off to a good start and
build a big lead going into the half. We could have easily gotten
back into it, but never got it going."
Detroit led by 33 in the fourth, and the only excitement for the
fans was the play of Mikki Moore, who had eight points in the first
extended minutes of his two-year career.
"That's the first time I've had the crowd cheering for me since
last season in the CBA last year," Moore said. "I'm not going to
get a big head and start thinking I'm Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but it
was nice to get a chance to get my career going."
Game notes Golden State put Antawn Jamison on the injured list after
he had arthroscopic knee surgery. He was replaced on the roster by
Tim Young. ... The Pistons' 66 points were their highest first-half output of the year, topping the 63 they had scored on three
occasions. ... Detroit put little-used center Don Reid on the injured list with back spasms and activated Moore.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Golden State Clubhouse
Detroit Clubhouse
RECAPS
Minnesota 107 Toronto 85
Miami 87 Cleveland 82
Detroit 131 Golden State 99
Philadelphia 97 Milwaukee 83
New York 84 Phoenix 79
San Antonio 91 Chicago 78
Utah 96 Orlando 88
Atlanta 95 Seattle 87
LA Lakers 109 Boston 96
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