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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- At this rate, Detroit Pistons coach
George Irvine is going to start bringing people in off the street
to make their Pistons debuts.
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| Barros |
Less than a week after Joe Smith scored 20 points in his first game for Detroit, Dana Barros had 18 points in his debut to help the Pistons rout the New Jersey Nets 97-76 on Wednesday.
"Well, we've still got Brian Cardinal on the injured list -- he
hasn't played his first game yet," Irvine said with a smile.
"After that, we'll have to start switching guys around to get
their first games. They get that rush of emotion and play a great
game."
With Chucky Atkins sidelined by a sprained ankle and a roster
spot opened by the trade of Cedric Ceballos to Miami, the Pistons
activated Barros off the injured list before the game.
His shooting helped free up Jerry Stackhouse to score a
game-high 31 points.
"Dana gives us a dimension that we really needed," Stackhouse said. "When he and Jud (Buechler) are both on the floor with me, spreading out the defense, I feel like a kid in a candy store."
Ben Wallace had a career-high 23 rebounds, several of which set up Piston fast breaks.
"I knew our guards were going to be running, so I really hit
the boards," he said. "I'm just guessing where the ball is going
to come off, and today I was guessing right."
Stephon Marbury scored 20 points to lead New Jersey.
"It's very embarrassing, especially since we've been playing
well against the top teams in the league," said Kendall Gill, who
had just nine points in 28 minutes. "We came in here and did this
against a team we should have beaten going away."
The Pistons led 43-41 at the half despite a season-worst nine
points in the second quarter. Stackhouse, who had scored at least
20 in the first half of the last three games, led Detroit with 13.
The Nets took their first lead of the game, 54-53, midway
through the third, but had no answer for Stackhouse. He had 15
points in the period, and when Barros hit a long 3-pointer at the
buzzer, the Pistons took a 73-65 lead into the fourth quarter.
"I've seen Dana hit that shot a lot of times in his career,"
Irvine said. "The difference is that every other time, he was on
the other side. Usually, I'm cursing him. Tonight I was hugging
him."
Detroit held the Nets to just one free throw in the first four
minutes of the fourth, increasing their lead to 79-66.
After that Detroit pulled away down the stretch. New Jersey
scored just 11 points in the fourth.
"We played the first half pretty well, and then we were just
awful the rest of the game," Nets coach Byron Scott said. "I
don't know if we just showed the Pistons no respect or what, but we
didn't come out and play."
Detroit is now 2-0 against the Nets, winning the games by an
average of 17.5 points.
"Two of our worst games all year have been against this team,"
Scott said. "Either we don't match up with them, or they just have
our number. We've got a bunch of guys that I thought would play
hard, and they just stopped in both games against Detroit."
Game notes
Stackhouse only arrived at the Palace 45 minutes before tip-off after getting caught in traffic. ... Marbury needs two assists for 1,000 in his Nets career. ... New Jersey hasn't won at the Palace since Feb. 5, 1994. ... The last Piston to grab 20 rebounds was Williams on Dec. 26, 1999.
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NBA Scoreboard
New Jersey Clubhouse
Detroit Clubhouse
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Philadelphia 93
Washington 87
Charlotte 103
Toronto 79
Detroit 97
New Jersey 76
Utah 88
Orlando 86
Denver 107
Minnesota 100
Miami 84
New York 81
San Antonio 82
Sacramento 79
Vancouver 109
Phoenix 106
LA Clippers 106
Golden State 83
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