Auburn Hills, USA, December 15 (AP) - Zeljko Rebraca of Yugoslavia scored a season-high 21 points and Corliss Williamson added 17 as the Detroit Pistons beat the New Jersey Nets 101-91 in a battle of last season's Eastern Conference division champs.
Detroit, which got 58 points from its reserves, won for the fourth time in five nights, while New Jersey saw its season-best winning streak snapped at five games.
Lucious Harris led the Nets with 18 points, while Jason Kidd (news) added 15 points and eight assists.
New Jersey got off to a quick start, leading by as many as 15 in the first quarter, but couldn't keep the momentum.
The Pistons put together a 18-6 run in the second, led by eight from Rebraca and six from Chucky Atkins. Rebraca finished with 16 points in the quarter, helping Detroit get within 49-48 at halftime.
The game stayed close until Detroit finished the third with a 10-0 run to take a 76-66 lead into the final period. Hamilton scored 11 in the period, while Billups added seven.
The Nets had a great chance to get back into it, but they missed four of six free-throw attempts in the first two minutes of the fourth. Instead, they were never able to get closer than eight points.
Drobnjak dunks
the ball
against Cleveland
|
Cleveland, December 16 (AP) - Gary Payton moved into ninth-place on the career assists list, adding nine more to his total Monday night as the Seattle SuperSonics defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 111-98.
Rashard Lewis scored 29 points on 10-for-15 shooting with 10 rebounds, Predrag Drobnjak of Yugoslavia scored a career-high 23 points and Reggie Evans grabbed 17 rebounds, 10 in the first quarter.
Lewis converted a key putback with 5:56 to play to give Seattle a 95-85 lead after Cleveland had whittled a 19-point deficit to eight. Moments later, the 6-foot-10 forward swished a 12-footer to end Cleveland's comeback hopes.
2002-03 NBA Championships - Statistics
|
|
G
|
MIN
|
REB
|
AST
|
STL
|
BLK
|
PTS
|
| Stojakovic |
16
|
33.6
|
4.9
|
2.2
|
1.0
|
0.1
|
16.0
|
| Radmanovic |
25
|
27.7
|
4.9
|
1.3
|
1.0
|
0.4
|
11.0
|
| Divac |
25
|
32.0
|
7.0
|
3.9
|
1.0
|
1.3
|
10.6
|
| Drobnjak |
25
|
26.5
|
4.5
|
1.0
|
0.8
|
0.5
|
9.7
|
| Jaric |
24
|
23.8
|
2.4
|
2.7
|
1.4
|
0.1
|
7.1
|
| Rebraca |
23
|
16.7
|
3.1
|
0.3
|
0.2
|
0.6
|
6.6
|
| Savovic |
5
|
15.4
|
1.6
|
1.6
|
0.6
|
0.2
|
5.0
|
| Rakocevic |
15
|
3.1
|
0.1
|
0.3
|
0.1
|
0.0
|
0.9
|
| Varda |
released by Washington
|
2002-03 NBA Championships - Season's Best
|
|
Points
|
Rebounds
|
Assists
|
Steals
|
Blocks
|
| Stojakovic |
26
|
9
|
5
|
3
|
1
|
| Divac |
24
|
14
|
9
|
4
|
4
|
| Radmanovic |
20
|
11
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
| Drobnjak |
23
|
7
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
| Jaric |
25
|
5
|
8
|
5
|
1
|
| Rebraca |
21
|
9
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
| Savovic |
11
|
3
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
| Rakocevic |
6
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
| Varda |
Injured as of October 28, 2002
|
