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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
DENVER (AP) -- The shot wasn't designed for Nick Van Exel, but
that didn't matter to the veteran point guard.
With Voshon Lenard covered, Van Exel took it upon himself to
deliver the game-winning shot with 21 seconds left to lead the
Denver Nuggets to their third straight victory, 108-106 over the
Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.
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| Van Exel |
"I thought we would get the ball in to Voshon and he would
score," Van Exel said. "I was confident on the last play. I got
down there, and he was covered so I decided not to throw the ball
away."
Antonio McDyess had 29 points and eight rebounds and Raef
LaFrentz scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half for the
Nuggets, who trailed by nine points to start the fourth quarter.
"Any time the game is on the line like that, I wouldn't want
the ball in the hands of any other player on this team," Denver
coach Dan Issel said.
Van Exel finished with 17 points and 10 assists.
"We didn't get back on defense in the fourth and they beat us
in the half court, on the boards, and in everything in that
period," Detroit coach George Irvine said. "The sad thing is that
we had a foul to give and we probably could have taken it on the
dribble on Van Exel's basket."
Jerry Stackhouse, who had 30 points for the Pistons, tied the
game at 106-106 with a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left. After a
timeout, Van Exel drove the lane and floated a lefthanded layup
over Joe Smith for the lead.
Stackhouse had a shot blocked by James Posey with 10 seconds
left. Detroit, which lost for the third time in four games, got the
ball back, but Smith lost control and the Pistons never regained
possession.
"There's no excuses," said Stackhouse, who had 35 points the
night before in Phoenix. "It wasn't fatigue. These are the games
we have to win."
The Nuggets held Detroit scoreless for the first three minutes
of the fourth quarter. LaFrentz had a free throw and a 3-pointer
before Smith's 15-foot jumper, and the lead was cut to 91-87.
McDyess hit a fadeaway and Van Exel two long jumpers to put the
Nuggets ahead 93-91.
Smith's tip off a miss tied the game at 95-95 with 7:26 left,
but Lenard buried two 3-pointers and McDyess hit two jumpers for
Denver.
LaFrentz put the Nuggets up 106-97 with a jumper with 4:56 to
go, but Chucky Atkins hit a 3-pointer and Ben Wallace had a free
throw and tipped basket leading up to Stackhouse's tying 3.
After trailing by 11 points, LaFrentz scored nine in a 13-8 run
for Denver to cut the lead to 71-65, but Detroit regained momentum
and a 79-70 lead as Atkins countered with a pair of 3-pointers over
the next four minutes. Stackhouse's trey with 2:09 left in the
third quarter gave the Pistons their biggest lead, 89-75, before
two baskets by Robert Pack and a free throw by George McCloud
reduced it to a nine-point game.
"The Texas trip wouldn't have meant much and we had to make
sure those two road wins didn't go for naught," LaFrentz said of
the wins over San Antonio and Houston. "To lose would have set us
back."
Game notes
Stackhouse missed his first three shots and was 5-for-9 the
rest of the first quarter. ... Detroit is 3-4 on the second night
of back-to-back games. ... Pistons rookie Mateen Cleaves buried his
first two shots. ... Detroit shot 54 percent in the first three
quarters, but were 6-for-21 in the fourth quarter. ... The Nuggets
placed guard Tariq Abdul-Wahad, who missed three games with the
flu, on the injured reserve list (throat discomfort) and activated
Calbert Cheaney, who had been sidelined all season with a strained
left hamstring. ... The win matched the 1994-95 start (13-13) as
the best in Denver's past seven seasons.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Detroit Clubhouse
Denver Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 99
New Jersey 86
Toronto 99
Indiana 98
Charlotte 65
Miami 56
Dallas 106
Portland 101
Utah 91
Philadelphia 89
San Antonio 94
Cleveland 77
Denver 108
Detroit 106
Seattle 89
Sacramento 85
Vancouver 118
Washington 104
LA Clippers 103
Minnesota 96
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Jerry Stackhouse Official Site
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