CLIPPERS BLOWN OUT AGAIN ON THE ROAD : DETROIT 113 CLIPPERS 85.Byline: Daily News Wire Services If the Clippers are trying to get into playoff form, they might want to check the mirror again. Taking on a Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are a team in the National Basketball Association based in the Detroit metropolitan area. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. Franchise history From Fort Wayne to Detroit team that had lost four of five games and was worried about giving away home-court advantage in the playoffs, the Clippers went meekly 113-85 for the second night in a row to start an important seven-game road trip. The Clippers (31-39) fell behind Phoenix and into fifth place in the Pacific Division standings as the Suns (32-39) won their fifth straight Friday night. Friday's margin of victory was Detroit's largest ever against the Clippers franchise, breaking the mark set when they beat the then-Buffalo Braves 113-87 at Cobo Arena on Feb. 12, 1972. ``We gave them a lot of open looks, and we weren't even in a doubling defense,'' Clippers coach Bill Fitch William Fitch (born May 19 1934 in Davenport, Iowa) is a former NBA coach who has been successful in making teams playoff contenders throughout his coaching career. Before entering the professional ranks he coached college ball at the University of Minnesota, Bowling Green State said. ``If we had done that (doubled) all night, they would have scored 213 points. Once we got down by 21, I waved the white flag.'' Detroit moved within a half-game of the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Knicks and a half-game ahead of the Atlanta Hawks for the Eastern Conference's third playoff position. ``It was important for us to get this win, and not dwell on the last couple weeks,'' Lindsey Hunter Lindsey Benson Hunter, Jr. (born December 3 1970, in Utica, Mississippi) is an American professional basketball player in the NBA. He is a guard for the Detroit Pistons in active rotation off the bench. said. ``We need to get some wins to get the third spot, and right now we are playing some teams who have nothing to play for. It is important to beat those teams.'' ``This was a tremendous effort by our team in every phase of the game,'' Pistons coach Doug Collins For the Canadian journalist see Doug Collins (journalist) Paul Douglas Collins (born July 28, 1951 in Christopher, Illinois), better known as Doug Collins said. ``We were energetic on defense, we ran the floor and we had great ball movement.'' Joe Dumars Joe Dumars (born May 24, 1963 in Shreveport, Louisiana) is a former basketball player in the NBA, and currently the Detroit Pistons' President of Basketball Operations. At 6'3" (190 cm) he could play either shooting guard or point guard on offense and was a highly effective led the Pistons with 26 points, while Hunter had 25 and Grant Hill added 21 points and 10 rebounds. Loy Vaught Loy Stephen Vaught (born February 27, 1968 in Grand Rapids, Michigan) is a retired American basketball player who spent ten seasons in the NBA, primarily with the Los Angeles Clippers. and Brent Barry Brent Robert Barry (born December 31, 1971 in Hempstead, New York) is an American professional basketball player currently with the NBA's San Antonio Spurs. He is known by his nickname, "Bones", and stands 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m). led the Clippers with 14 each. ``In the Knicks game Wednesday, our defense lost its edge,'' Hill said. ``It had been slipping for a while, so we knew we needed to get that back. Tonight was a really good defensive effort, and that translated into a lot of offense for us.'' Detroit led only 34-33 with 4:55 left in the first half, but went on a 16-3 run to take a 14-point edge into intermission. Dumars had eight of his 14 first-half points in the surge. The Clippers closed within eight, 62-54, in the third, but the Pistons scored 10 points in 1:05 to move the margin to 18. Hunter provided six of the points with two 3-pointers. Rodney Rogers Rodney Ray Rogers (born June 20, 1971, in Durham, North Carolina) is a retired American basketball player who last played power forward for the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. Rogers played college basketball at Wake Forest University from 1990 until 1993. stopped the string with two free throws, but Detroit scored the next seven points and led 83-60 after three quarters. Detroit led by as many as 32 points in a sloppy fourth quarter. CAPTION(S): Photo, Box Photo: (Color) Clippers' Loy Vaught leaves no doubt about his first-quarter basket against Detroit's Theo Ratliff, left. Associated Press Box: CLIPPERS BOX |
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