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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- Detroit rookie Brian Cardinal was
bleeding from both knees and an elbow, and he couldn't have been
happier.
|  | | It was a brutal night for Detroit's Brian Cardinal, right, taking a charge here from Toronto's Alvin Williams, but that's the way he likes it.
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Cardinal scored nine points in a career-high 18 minutes as the
Pistons beat the Toronto Raptors 99-87 Wednesday night.
Detroit's victory over Toronto clinched the Central Division
title for Milwaukee, the Bucks' first division title since 1985-86.
"This was amazing," said Cardinal, who doubled his career
scoring total. "The first thing I did was thank the coach for
giving me this chance. I was nervous at first, but once I got
knocked down and bounced off the floor a couple times, I was
fine."
Cardinal had played only 10 games this season, and had not
played in more than a month. With the Pistons out of playoff
contention, Detroit coach George Irvine decided to give Cardinal a
look.
"Brian gave us great energy when we were making a comeback, and
did all the things we expected when we drafted him," Irvine said.
"He's got a great knack for knocking balls loose and getting to
them on the floor, and you know he is going to disrupt the other
team."
Jerry Stackhouse, who scored 20 of his 35 points in the crucial
fourth quarter, also praised Cardinal.
"The best thing about playing for this team is guys like
Brian," Stackhouse said. "He hasn't played much this year, and
he's been on the injured list, but every day in practice, he's
working harder than anyone else."
The Pistons, who entered the game with a 2-34 record when
trailing at halftime, overcame a 17-point deficit to win for the
sixth time in seven games.
"I didn't yell and scream at the half," Irvine said. "I just
told them to go out there and play the way they've been playing in
the last couple weeks. They responded. Give them the credit."
Toronto had its four-game winning streak snapped, and lost for
the second time in three games against Detroit this season.
"I think we thought this one was going to be easy," Raptors
coach Lenny Wilkens said. "We still have things to play for, like
home-court advantage, and we can't think that anything will be
easy."
Former Toronto player Corliss Williamson added 23 points for
Detroit, and Ben Wallace had eight points and 22 rebounds.
Vince Carter led Toronto with 22 points, and Alvin Williams had
15 points and 11 assists.
After taking a 31-29 lead after one quarter, Toronto outscored
Detroit 27-12 in the second. The Raptors outshot Detroit 52 percent
to 26 percent in the period and built an 18-9 rebounding advantage.
The Raptors led 58-41 at the break. Carter had 15 points in the
first half, while Stackhouse had 11 on 4-for-17 shooting.
Detroit went on an 18-2 run and closed to 68-67. Cardinal
scored eight points during the surge.
"Brian really lit a fire under them in the third quarter, and
the rest of the team followed along," said Jerome Williams, a
former Piston. "It's frustrating, because they outplayed and
outhustled us."
Stackhouse put Detroit ahead with back-to-back 3-pointers to
start the fourth. Toronto tied it at 73 on baskets by Antonio Davis
and Carter, the last a slicing dunk in traffic.
But Joe Smith's jumper and three more baskets from Stackhouse,
one a 3-pointer, put Detroit up 82-73 with 6:58 to go.
The Pistons outscored Toronto 35-7 in a run that lasted more than 13
minutes.
"It's really frustrating," Carter said. "In the first half,
everything goes in, and in the second, you can't buy a basket. I
don't know what happened."
Game notes
Detroit guard Dana Barros missed the game because of the
flu. Wallace returned after suffering back spasms late in the victory Monday over Atlanta. Pistons coach George Irvine, who missed the game Monday with the flu, was back on the bench. ... Jerome Williams, who
played his first 3 1/2 seasons with the Pistons, made his return to
Detroit after the trading-deadline deal that saw Williamson and
Kornel David come to Detroit for Williams and Eric Montross. ...
Stackhouse needs to average 33 points in Detroit's last four games
to become the first Piston to average 30 points for a season.
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RECAPS
Miami 102
Boston 97
Chicago 113
Washington 109
Atlanta 107
Cleveland 102
Detroit 99
Toronto 87
Indiana 100
New York 93
Phoenix 111
Dallas 106
Seattle 107
Golden State 101
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