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Started by wxq123, 2014/04/24 05:17AM
Latest post: 2014/04/24 05:17AM, Views: 287, Posts: 1
Scott Cullen can be reached at
#1   2014/04/24 05:17AM
wxq123
WASHINGTON -- The Detroit Pistons got the most out of playing the Washington Wizards in a home-and-home series. On Saturday night, they won their second in as many nights, both over the woeful Wizards. Charlie Villanueva tied a season high with 19 points, Rodney Stuckey added 18 and the Pistons beat the Wizards, 96-87. It was only the second time this season that Detroit has won two straight. The Wizards, who trailed throughout the game, have lost seven straight and dropped to an NBA-worst 3-22. It got so bad for Washington that coach Randy Wittman said that he had intentionally got a technical foul midway through the first quarter with his team in the midst of missing 14 of its first 15 shots. He was hoping for a second, which would mean getting ejected from the game. "Ive been trying to get thrown out for a while. These guys wont even throw me out," Wittman said. Had he been spared the rest of the game, Wittman would have missed Detroit grabbing 58 rebounds for the second straight night. "Its just the effort were giving," Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said. The Wizards closed to 88-81 with 6:15 to play, but didnt score for nearly four minutes as Detroit built a 94-81 lead with 2:55 to play. Jordan Crawford, who scored his only point of the first half with 1:05 to play, scored 20 in the second half to lead Washington with 21. Emeka Okafor had 14 points and tied a season high with 14 rebounds. After the Pistons beat the Wizards by 32 on Friday night, Wittman called their performance embarrassing. A day later, he said: "We went through the motions." He said he couldnt fault his teams effort in the follow-up game. "Our ball movement and passing was much better," Wittman said. Detroit had lost six straight before the consecutive wins over the Wizards. The Pistons are just 3-13 on the road. "We just got to continue to build our habits. Its obviously good to taste wins especially when weve lost a bunch in a row," Frank said. Detroit has three days off before playing at Atlanta on Wednesday. "It was very important for us to get these two wins and hopefully we carry that momentum into the next game. We need to keep playing the way weve been playing as far as locking down on the defensive end and rebounding the ball, weve been doing that well these past couple games," Villanueva said. The Pistons werent terrific, but they didnt make any major errors. Washington made one in the first quarter. Kevin Seraphin was alone by the basket, and instead of an easy layup, he tried a reverse dunk -- and the ball spun out. Washington shot just 17.4 per cent (4 for 23) in the first quarter and trailed 22-13. Detroit shot 36 per cent. "The last two games were embarrassing. Theres no word better than that," Nene said. With the Wizards off for the next three days, Wittman started Nene for the first time this season. Nene has missed 12 of Washingtons 25 games with a left foot injury. The Wizards Cartier Martin helped cut the lead to seven, but a few moments later, Detroit hit three straight 3-pointers for a 39-22 lead and the Pistons led at halftime 54-35. In the second half, Detroit built its largest lead, 59-37 a little more than two minutes into the third quarter, but Tayshaun Prince sprained his right ankle in a collision, left the game and did not return. "Well know more in the next couple of days but right now I think were labeling it as a sprain," Frank said. Washington ran off 10 straight to get within 59-47 with 7:08 to play, got within six with just about four minutes remaining in the quarter and trailed 74-64 after three. Villanueva had seven points in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter as the Pistons held off Washington. "Playing a team back to back is very difficult, especially the way we won (Friday) night," Villanueva said. "We knew they were going to come out and give us all they had. Give them credit, they made their run, but we stayed poised and made the plays and got the stops that we needed." Notes: Pistons rookie F Andre Drummond had 25 rebounds in the two games against Washington. ... Detroit F Corey Maggette was inactive for the second straight game. ... Washington G John Wall, whos missed all season with an injured left knee, has started running on the court, Wittman said. ... Wizards G Bradley Beal, who missed the previous two games with an injured back, returned and scored 14 points. [url=http://www.authenticseahawksshop.com/]http://www.authenticseahawksshop.com/... . Stephen Curry had 25 points and Klay Thompson had 21 for the Warriors, shooting a combined 8 for 10 from 3-point range. David Lee had 15 points as Golden State lost for the first time in four preseason games. [url=http://www.authenticseahawksshop.com/12th-fan-jersey.html]http://www.authen... . PETERSBURG, Fla. [url=http://www.authenticseahawksshop.com/marshawn-lynch-jersey.html]http://www.... . PETERSBURG, Fla. [url=http://www.authenticseahawksshop.com/russell-wilson-jersey.html]http://www.... . Gregg skated a personal best 34.369 seconds to finish just behind Mika Poutila of Finland, who won silver in 34.361. Jan Smeekens of The Netherlands took gold in 34.32, setting a Dutch record in the process. "It kind of relaxed me. [url=http://www.authenticseahawksshop.com/richard-sherman-jersey.html]http://www... . The 40-year-old Nestor, who has won the most doubles titles in history, was unable to nose his fifth-seeded team into the quarter-finals. "They put a lot of pressure on us and conditions favoured them a bit more," said Nestor.OAKLAND, Calif. -- Brandon Moss might just make Boston miss him yet. Moss homered among his three hits for the Oakland Athletics in Wednesdays 3-2 win and completed a three-game sweep of the Red Sox. He finished 6 for 8 with five RBIs and three runs scored against his former club that traded him away. "Playing against a team you came up with and team you played your first little bit in the big leagues is special," Moss said. "You want to do well, not out of animosity, but to show, Hey, you did draft a good player." Jemile Weeks hit a go-ahead RBI single in the seventh following Coco Crisps leadoff triple in Oaklands fourth straight win. Red Sox slugger David Ortiz hit his 400th career home run and also scored on Adrian Gonzalezs sixth-inning single, but Boston couldnt avoid its first sweep by the As since May 23-25, 2008, also in Oakland. The Red Sox lost just their fourth series in the past 17 and completed a disappointing 2-5 road trip through Seattle and Oakland, the AL Wests two bottom teams. "I wish he could celebrate," manager Bobby Valentine said. "David is a team guy and he knows its a great individual accomplishment, we all know that. But its tarnished." Still, Ortiz returned to the clubhouse to some 40 congratulatory messages. "And my phone is still blowing up," he said. "I know at some point in my career when Im not playing baseball I might look at it from the outside and be like, Whoa, I guess I had a good career. I look at it right now as just another home run." Moss homered leading off the second for his 10th of the season, giving the As longballs in 15 straight games -- most for the club since doing so in 17 in a row from April 12-May 1, 2002. Moss singled in the fourth and doubled in the sixth, leaving him a triple shy of the cycle. Brandon Inge doubled home Moss to tie the game at 2 in the sixth. Grant Balfour (2-2) went 1 2-3 innings for the win as the As (41-42) moved within one game of .500 for the first time since they were 22-23 on May 23. Lone As All-Star Ryan Cook finished with a 1-2-3 ninth for his eighth save in 11 chances. Ortiz hit his 400th homer with a leadoff drive to right in the fourth inning against Oakland starter A.J. Griffin. The 36-year-old Big Papis home runs rank eighth among active players and 49th on the career list. Next up for him to catch: Hall of Famer Duke Snider with 407. "I was trying to attack the zone. Papi got me. Congrats to him," Griffin said. "Thats a great milestone right there. My name will be next to that one." Ortizs 22nd home run of the season tied the game at 1. Ortiz has 352 home runs andd 1,142 RBIs as a designated hitter for most all time by a DH.dddddddddddd Ortiz tipped his batting helmet as his milestone was announced to a standing ovation before he stepped in to hit in the sixth, then drew a five-pitch walk. He was thrilled with the surprising gesture from a crowd of 28,240. "That was pretty cool. Youre playing on the road and you get something like that on the road, where people really appreciate it," he said. Aaron Cook (2-2), coming off a career-best two-hit shutout in a 5-0 win at Seattle on Friday in which he didnt walk a batter for the second straight outing, was tagged for nine hits and three runs in six-plus innings. Facing Oakland for the first time since June 28, 2009, while with Colorado, the right-hander fell to 4-2 in six career starts versus the AL West. Griffin is still looking for his first major league win after six solid innings. Second baseman Weeks fielding error in the sixth led to Bostons unearned run and cost Griffin a shot. Gonzalezs RBI single extended his season-best hitting streak to 15 games, longest active in the majors. He had 10 hits during the seven-game road trip to Seattle and Oakland. "Our offence has just been terrible," Boston right fielder Cody Ross said. "I dont need to sugarcoat it. It just (stunk) basically. Our pitchers have been pitching their butts off to keep us in games and we just cant seem to push a run across." Red Sox Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski also hit their 400th home runs against the Athletics franchise -- both also doing so in July. Williams hit his against the Kansas City As. The As also allowed Paul Konerkos milestone 400th home run for the White Sox when he did it April 25 against Grant Balfour in the Coliseum. Notes: The clubs met for the 30th time on July 4. ... Oakland leads the season series 5-1. ... Boston 2B Dustin Pedroia was held out to rest his troublesome right thumb, which he hurt again Tuesday night diving for a ball in right field. He will be evaluated back in Boston on Thursday. ... This marked Bostons first road series loss since dropping two of three at Kansas City from May 7-9. ... The Red Sox selected RHP Justin Germano from Triple-A Pawtucket. ... Red Sox 3B Will Middlebrooks missed his third straight game with a left hamstring injury that forced him out of Sundays game at Seattle after the top of the ninth because of tightness, but he expects to return this weekend. Valentine hopes to keep Middlebrooks off the DL considering he wouldnt be available to return until after the All-Star break. ... Ten men and women were sworn into the U.S. Marine Corps on the field before the game. ' ' '


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