|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME FLOW
PHOENIX (AP) -- Leave it to Detroit coach George Irvine to state
the obvious.
|  | | Shawn Marion had trouble slowing down Detroit's Jerry Stackhouse, the No. 2 scorer in the league. |
"Phoenix is a little bit different team without Jason Kidd in
the lineup," Irvine said after his Pistons beat the Kidd-less
Phoenix Suns 89-84 Tuesday night.
Jerry Stackhouse, the NBA's No. 2 scorer, had 35 points --
including 13 in the decisive third quarter -- as the Pistons handed
the Suns their third loss in a row, two of them at home.
"We don't feel sorry for nobody," Stackhouse said of the
shorthanded Suns, who also are without their top defensive guard,
Mario Elie, and haven't had Penny Hardaway all season. "That's
just the NBA."
Kidd, who had started all 23 games and is second in the NBA in
minutes played at 41.4 per game, sat out with a sore lower back and
left knee.
But Scott Skiles brushed aside Kidd's absence. He said his team,
whose current skid began with a home loss to the Los Angeles
Clippers, simply isn't giving enough effort.
"We're not playing with the same intensity that allowed us to
go 7-1," Skiles said. "Since then we're 8-8. When you don't bring
it all the time you're out there, that's how you go 8-8.
The Suns had nobody who could slow down Stackhouse.
"He's their team, pretty much," Phoenix's Rodney Rogers said.
"If he doesn't score like he does, then they don't have a chance
in hell of winning. But by him scoring like he does, it opens it up
for everybody else."
Stackhouse sank 11 of 12 free throws, including two to seal the
victory with 12.1 seconds to play.
He scored 10 in a 19-2 run that put Detroit up 71-56 on Ben
Wallace's two free throws with 2:45 left in the third quarter.
"We made them shoot from the outside, which they've been
struggling with a little bit," Stackhouse said.
Mikki Moore's two free throws with 11:45 to play gave the
Pistons their biggest lead, 78-62.
Phoenix outscored Detroit 11-2 to cut it to 80-74 when Ruben
Garces sank one of two free throws with 5:05 to play. But
Stackhouse stopped the run with a 3-pointer, one of just three
field goals in 19 tries for the Pistons in the fourth quarter.
The Suns mounted a final challenge when Shawn Marion, who had
gone 0-for-9 up to that point, sank a 3-pointer from the corner to
make it 87-81 with 1:28 remaining. Robinson followed with a
3-pointer and it was 87-84 with 43.5 seconds to play.
Phoenix had a chance to tie it, but Cliff Robinson's 3-pointer
was long, Stackhouse rebounded and was fouled with 12.1 seconds to
go.
The Pistons made 24 of 26 free throws to win for just the second
time in the six games.
Chucky Atkins scored 14 and Joe Smith had 14 points and 13
rebounds for Detroit, which outrebounded the Suns 55-42.
Robinson scored 21, Rodney Rogers 19 and Elliot Perry 18 for
Phoenix, which shot just 37 percent.
Neither team led by more than four points in the first half, and
the game was tied at 47-47 at the break.
Marion is 4-for-26 from the field in his last three games. He
said he's started thinking too much about his shot.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find a way out of it, man," he
said.
Game notes
Stackhouse has scored at least 30 points 11 times this
season. ... Marion is 4-for-26 from the field in his last three
games. ... The Suns placed Elie (broken left hand) on the injured
list and activated Garces (bulging disk). ... Skiles played for
Irvine when Irvine was interim coach for 20 games for Indiana in
the 1988-89 season. The two are close friends and talk regularly.
... Stackhouse has made 188 free throws this season, most in the
NBA.
|
|
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Detroit Clubhouse
Phoenix Clubhouse
RECAPS
Toronto 103
Utah 95
Atlanta 87
New York 77
LA Lakers 81
Miami 79
Indiana 90
Chicago 85
San Antonio 86
Houston 79
Detroit 89
Phoenix 84
Golden State 120
Minnesota 99
Sacramento 106
Washington 72
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Jerry Stackhouse Official Site
|
