Clippers Don’t Go Quietly

The Detroit Pistons have learned how to win tough games. Now, they want to learn how to stop making easy games tough.

On Monday, the Pistons nearly blew an 18-point second-half lead before beating the Clippers, 100-90.

“The bottom line is that we got the win,” said Terry Mills. “But we have to develop a knockout punch. When we get a team down by 18, we have to put them away. Of course, if we had played this game last year, we wouldn’t have stopped them, and they would have probably won by 10 or 12 points.”

The Pistons, who got 31 points from Grant Hill, have won five of six, while the Clippers saw their two-game winning streak end.

Clippers Coach Bill Fitch was ejected by referee Ron Olesiak with 3:25 left in the second quarter after arguing a non-call.

Fitch’s ejection was his second during the five-game trip, and the Clippers lost both games. He was also ejected in last Wednesday’s loss at Boston.

Detroit led, 54-45, at halftime, and looked like it had the game put away with a strong start to the third quarter.

The Pistons pulled away steadily throughout the quarter, and when Theo Ratliff dunked a missed three-point shot, it was 75-57 with 3:28 left in the period.

But Malik Sealy came off the bench to lead a 14-0 run, and his three-point shot made it 75-71 before the Pistons added a bit back to the margin by scoring the final four points of the quarter.

“We made a lot of mental mistakes, and we can’t afford to do that,” Piston Coach Doug Collins said. “We worked really hard to build that lead, and then we gave it right back.”

Sealy scored five more points in the first four minutes of the fourth, but he was the only Clipper to make a shot and the lead stayed at eight.

“When we got within seven, I really thought we were going to get this one,” said Clipper assistant Jim Brewer, who replaced Fitch. “But Grant Hill was the difference.”

Brian Williams became the first Clipper other than Sealy to score in more than eight minutes when he made two free throws to make it 88-80 with 5:17 left.

Sealy led Clipper scorers with 18 points and Williams had 16.