[外電] Wrong team to trail
Wrong team to trail
Pistons clinch second straight Central Division title
By SEKOU SMITH
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/21/06
Auburn Hills, Mich. — If the Hawks had turned the ball over
incessantly, dug a 21-point hole and then played lights out
the way they did in the second half against any team other
than the Detroit Pistons, they'd have had at least a puncher's
chance.
But they weren't anywhere else but the Palace of Auburn Hills
on Monday night. And they did all those things against the
Pistons, the NBA's most methodical, consistent team this season.
Instead of rallying for one of their trademark late-game wins
with their gutsy second half, the Hawks had to settle for a 91-84
loss and watching the Pistons celebrate clinching their second
straight Central Division title before a raucous sellout crowd of
22,076.
"We just need to keep grinding," said Hawks co-captain Al
Harrington, who led his team with 23 points and six rebounds. "We
had our opportunities. But that lead we gave them was just too
much. If we could have withstood that run of theirs before
halftime, I think we would have been right there.
"But this is the one team in the league you can't spot a 21-point
lead and expect to be able to walk out of this place smiling. It's
not going to happen. Not for us or any other team in this league."
Playing their second game in as many days, the Hawks (21-44) never
seemed to get untracked. They beat Orlando in overtime Sunday at
Philips Arena on Zaza Pachulia's tip-in of a Joe Johnson missed
layup with 2.4 seconds left. But they were never close enough for
such late-game heroics Monday, despite holding the high-powered
Pistons to 19 points in each of the final two quarters.
"They've got the total package," said Johnson, who struggled from
the floor (8-for-18) early but finished with 17 points, six
assists and four rebounds. "They've got the great low-post game
and the great outside game. And then they work harder on defense
than any other team in the league. So it's tough. You get behind
and try and fight back, but they're right there on you the entire
way. There's no room to breathe when you need it, not even for a
second."
While the Hawks were busy mounting their comeback after halftime,
the Pistons, a league-best 53-13, were busy going through their
paces.
Rasheed Wallace (26 points, eight rebounds) and Ben Wallace (13
rebounds, three blocks) did the work inside while Tayshaun Prince
(18 points), Chauncey Billups (14) and Richard Hamilton (14) did
the damage from the perimeter.
The Pistons also benefited from the Hawks' 17 turnovers (for 22
points) and futile showing from the free-throw line (4-for-12).
And the Hawks' tired legs didn't help much, either.
"We had plenty of time to rest," Harrington said. "I don't want
us to use that as an excuse, because we had the life we needed
in the second half. We just didn't find our mark in the last four
minutes of the first quarter."
That was when the Pistons turned a tie game into a 10-point lead
with 2.2 seconds to play on Hamilton's 3-point play.
"We have a day to get our rest and then we have to come out and
grind against Philly [Wednesday]," Harrington said. "We know we
don't have any room for error, so we have to turn it up every
night from here on out."
資料來源
http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/hawks/stories/0321hawks.html
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