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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
SEATTLE (AP) -- Nate McMillan isn't a miracle worker after all.
Jerry Stackhouse, the NBA's No. 3 scorer, had 41 points as the
Detroit Pistons beat the Seattle SuperSonics for the second time
this season, 112-99 on Wednesday night.
"The energy and the effort have to be there," said McMillan,
who became the interim head coach of the Sonics nine days ago when
he replaced the fired Paul Westphal. "The focus has to be there."
Under McMillan, the Sonics won at Portland and beat the Los
Angeles Lakers by 33 points at home last week. They didn't look
like the same team against the Pistons.
Stackhouse, limited to 11 points in a loss in Vancouver on
Tuesday night, was 12-for-28 from the field to lead the Pistons
past Seattle for the second time in less than a month. He scored 38
points in the Pistons' 101-92 win over Seattle in Detroit on Nov.
12.
"We're not taking pride in defending one-on-one defensively," said McMillan, whose team surrendered an NBA season-high 51 points to Antawn Jamison in a win over Golden State Sunday night.
Gary Payton, who led the Sonics with 29 points, was one of the
defenders who failed to stop Stackhouse.
The Sonics are 3-2 under McMillan.
"Tonight, we took a giant step backward," the Sonics' Patrick
Ewing said. "In my mind, we took away a lot of what we
accomplished last week."
Stackhouse came into the game averaging 27.4 points, third in the league behind Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors.
The 6-foot-6 guard from North Carolina was at his best when the
Pistons needed it the most. He scored six of his points in the
final three minutes.
Stackhouse was the focus of the defense, but the Sonics couldn't slow him down.
He credited his teammates with getting him the ball when he was open.
"I trusted the guys all night," he said.
Dana Barros, Stackhouse's teammate, said the Pistons' offensive
star was being modest.
"Jerry carried us the whole game," Barros said. "He must have
been tired with all the double teams."
Stackhouse said the Pistons knew they would have to outwork the Sonics.
"They've been playing well," he said. "But we surpassed their
energy."
After Ruben Patterson's three-point play cut Detroit's lead to
99-97 with 3:10 to go, Barros responded with a 3-pointer with 2:28
remaining. Stackhouse followed with a pair of free throws and added
a fastbreak layup with 1:50 left that put Detroit ahead 106-97.
Stackhouse sank two free throws with 24.3 seconds left.
Barros scored 17 points in a reserve role and Chucky Atkins,
Detroit's point guard, had 14 points. Ben Wallace pulled down 17 rebounds for the Pistons.
For Seattle, Rashard Lewis had 15 points.
Detroit coach George Irvine had his own game plan.
"We wanted to make it a track meet for two reasons," Irvine
said. "To get Jerry in the open court and also to give him more
time when they came over to double- and triple-team him."
The Pistons took a 77-72 lead on a 15-footer by Atkins with 2:58
left in the third quarter and led 80-74 after a 3-pointer by Jud
Buechler from the corner. Stackhouse's 20-footer with 1:09 left in
the period put Detroit ahead 82-79.
Stackhouse scored 16 of his 25 points in the first half as the
Pistons took a 23-12 lead. His two free throws in the final second
of the first half gave Detroit a 58-57 advantage.
Seattle trailed by as many as 13 points in the first quarter.
The Sonics took the lead for the first time on a layup by rookie Desmond Mason with 1:55 gone in the second quarter.
Game notes
Payton and rookie Mateen Cleaves of Detroit were called for
technical fouls for taunting each other with 2:39 to go in the
first quarter. ... Vin Baker returned for the Sonics after missing
two games because of a sore right knee. Baker played 19 minutes and
scored 12 points. ... The Pistons outrebounded the Sonics 44-36.
... The Sonics play the Lakers in Los Angeles Friday night. "Kobe
Bryant (of the Lakers) must be licking his chops after seeing what
Jamison and Stackhouse got against us the last two games,"
Seattle's Brent Barry said.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Detroit Clubhouse
Seattle Clubhouse
 FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Jerry Stackhouse Official Site
RECAPS
LA Clippers 93
Washington 88
Charlotte 91
Indiana 88
Miami 95
Denver 78
Milwaukee 109
New Jersey 87
Cleveland 92
Chicago 88
Dallas 94
New York 85
Portland 95
Toronto 88
Detroit 112
Seattle 99
Golden State 125
LA Lakers 122
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